You Can't Protest Everything
by LeSass
Summary: (AU) Rory is determined to stake her claim as a journalist. With the uprising of rallies following the election of Donald Trump, Rory is given an opportunity to follow the protests. When Rory runs into Jess Mariano at a rally, Luke's elusive nephew, she knows getting closer to him means getting a better story. But it isn't long before the lines of business and pleasure are blurred.
1. Author's Explanation

**AN** : I wanted to explain some things for the story because otherwise, it gets confusing. Don't worry, there is an actual chapter one - it's "Chapter two" because I wanted this author's note to be separate from the story so it wouldn't bog things down.

 **Ages/Career** : The time period is a little jammed up. Rory is going to be 27 while this story is taking place and Jess will be 28. I know that she's meant to be 32 for the revival, but things have changed about the story and I don't want her to be that old for the purpose of what I've changed. So the timeline messes up a little. In this alternative world, she began Obama's _second_ campaign. This makes it more realistic for this story timeline because she hadn't graduated Yale at 21 for me to have her do both.

 **In terms of Rory and Jess** : Jess and Rory have met previously, but there was no teenage romance. She met him briefly at Liz's wedding and again later when she was dropped out of Yale. That will come up in a later chapter - it's relevant. Rory still broke up with Dean, but it was because of the impending distance. She still had her first time with him, still dated Logan, and still denied the proposal. Logan will come up throughout the story because of a history I've given them in between the show ending and my story. Jess still published a book when he did, but it wasn't _The Subsect_ , and it was also largely due to Luke. I'm excited to explore that. In terms of the Rory/Logan: have heart - I am never not Literati!

Rory and Jess will have slightly different personalities, but they should hopefully be true to who they are. Jess and Luke are no less close because of things changing, but I am still working on that to see how close I can make them. Originally Jess and Rory were going to know each other and have the same history because I adore it, but a friend convinced me to try something new, so here we go :)

Otherwise things are within the canon storyline, or should be. I don't anticipate changing things even as the revival comes out because there is still a lapse in time, but maybe! Also, this story incorporates politics and the opinions of many sides on the American 2016 election. I am trying to keep the opinions of different characters in check with their personalities; please don't read into it too much!

** Please hang in there with me. I reallllllly couldn't come up with a good fic description!


	2. Chapter 1

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* * *

"I'll do it," Rory Gilmore said confidently, placing her pen down on her pad of paper.

Her editor looked at her with eyebrows raised.

"You're sure, Gilmore?" Yvette checked, leaning forward.

"This won't be like the Obama trail," she continued, walking over to sit back in her chair. "There's going to be an outburst of protests after this one."

Some of her peers on the paper glanced in her direction, looks mixed between concern and lack of faith plastered on their faces. It wasn't that Rory wasn't a feisty, committed journalist. But she had never really covered political protests and she was newer to the paper.

"I'm positive," Rory said with determination, nodding. "I know I can do this. If I can't handle a protest in the heart of Philadelphia, how will I survive when I go for exchange opportunities to do foreign corresponding?"

Yvette smiled, as did Rory's closest colleague, Maggie.

"I know that there are more seasoned journalists here," Rory continued. "But I really think this is something I can do and do well. You've seen my work from Obama's campaign; I'm not afraid to get down and dirty to really edge out our competition for fresh, on-the-ground writing."

Her editor nodded and smiled again.

"Alright," Yvette said simply.

"Alright?" Rory checked, stealing a glance at Maggie from across the table.

Yvette nodded before she continued going down the list of assignments.

Yvette had full confidence in Rory. The young woman hadn't been on staff at the _Inquirer_ for long, but she had proven herself to be a fierce journalist with a not-taking-no-for-an-answer determination in her work and position. It was good to see a new person try to tackle something heavy - it would show her what Rory was really made of.

Rory smiled to herself, feeling exhilarated. It wasn't often that Yvette diplomatically handed over major pieces. Rory figured it was a test of her ability and she was ready to take it on. She sat in a bubble of giddiness and excitement for the rest of the meeting, planning her next moves.

She figured she should start with Google.

As arbitrary and unprofessional as it felt to use Google for a story, people were upset right now. And typically when people were upset, organizing was happening and articles collecting those organizing efforts were published online. Rory marveled at how technology had taken over so much of what a good ole fashioned newspaper might.

For the remainder of the meeting, Rory considered her strategy. She wanted to get multiple opinions, though, so she wrote down to look up any counter-protest movements building. It seemed appropriate to scan all platforms of social media for the rest of her day, hoping to catch as many angles as possible. The protest was Saturday, so she didn't want to waste any time.

As soon as the meeting concluded, she headed back to her cubicle next to Maggie, eager to get started.

"So!" Maggie smiled excitedly, nudging Rory's shoulder as they walked together.

"I _know_!" Rory practically squealed. "Something just came over me. I never expected Yvette to agree!"

"Girl, you were _bold_ ," Maggie agreed. "Yvette is great, but I never thought she would go for it. Not with Andrews in the room."

Rory shrugged and smiled as the women rounded the corner and settled down in their cubicles.

Foster Andrews was a colleague at the _Inquirer_ , well respected for his cutthroat writing in the political realm, and a spitfire in the meeting rooms. He always spoke up about protest pieces, and he always got to write about them. He was also incredibly interested in Rory, and she couldn't help but flush a little at how he had sat back and remained silent during her little pitch.

As if thinking about him could manifest his presence, Foster poked his head around the corner and leaned lazily against her desk.

"So, Gilmore. Big break, huh?"

Rory looked up and shot him a look.

"Thanks," she responded with a smile, sitting back in her seat. She could feel Maggie burning holes in the back of her head; her friend, too, knew that Foster was interested.

"A congratulations is in order. Maybe after work?" He cooed, raising his eyebrows.

"I think I'll pass," Rory laughed. "I have research to do."

"If you need any advice, you know, from the big boys in the field, you know where my desk is," he said with a smirk, leaning in towards her.

Rory rolled her eyes.

"I'll be sure to let the big boys in the field know where your desk is too so you can collectively applaud me as I crush your accomplishments," she said coolly, smile tacked on sweetly. Maggie snapped her fingers for good measure.

Foster smirked.

"Maybe we can applaud your success in other ways," he said thoughtfully. Rory looked horrified.

"You know, that's basically sexual harassment, Andrews," Maggie piped in, throwing her stapler at him.

"Hey!" He ducked, hands up in mock surrender. "I was merely suggesting a drink or dinner. You went for the happy ending."

Rory laughed uncertainly.

"Listen, Foster," she began. "I appreciate the offers for help and congratulations, if there are any under your ego, but I think I'm good for now."

He bowed his head, excusing himself. He picked up the stapler off the ground and handed it to Rory.

"As you wish, my dear."

Once he left, Maggie scowled as Rory passed over the stapler.

"He's such a creep," she hissed.

Rory shrugged.

"He is. But I kind of like the banter. It reminds me of an ex-boyfriend," she confessed, logging into her computer. The protest in Philly was only a few days away.

"Exes are exes for a _reason_ , Rory," Maggie warned, turning away from her friend. "Don't fall into Foster's trap."

Rory shrugged again to herself and got to work, sighing.

She needed to carry Maggie home with her whenever Logan was in the area.

* * *

Jess Mariano leaned against the railing at his publishing house, a makeshift ice pack pressed against his temple.

Matt and Chris stood on either side of him, watching Jess nurse his bruising head. Jess eyed his friends.

"Do you want to come with me to the bathroom, too?" Jess deadpanned, smirking at his friends and colleagues.

"I mean, if you're offering," Matt joked. Jess gave him a look before tossing the ice pack at his friend's head.

Matt caught it in time and narrowed his eyes before smiling. At least Jess was still being Jess. As if reading his mind, Chris spoke up.

"At least you're still being you," he said with a sigh, massaging his own forehead lightly.

"Meaning?"

"You're being your jolly old self," Chris shrugged.

"It means you probably aren't going to die from internal bleeding and all," Matt finished.

Jess sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. He felt like a teenager again, getting a scolding call from his uncle.

"It's not that big of a deal," Jess assured them.

"It _is_ that big of a deal," Chris protested.

"Yeah dude, you could have gotten seriously hurt. You probably have a concussion at the very least," Matt added.

"Well, the two of you could have come and deflected," Jess protested, glaring at his friends as he walked past them. He felt dizzy but his ego wouldn't let him admit that.

"And get pummeled in the head like you did? No thanks," Chris scoffed, following Jess.

"I mean, it's noble and all, Jess," Matt added, rounding to cut Jess off. "But not everyone is a revolutionary."

"Maybe that's the problem," Jess sighed, placing his hand against the wall to steady himself. Matt sighed and offered Jess the ice pack back. He took it reluctantly.

"Everyone is upset right now," Chris acknowledged. "But not everyone feels safe enough to be in a crowd surrounded by police officers."

Jess gave Chris a knowing look before shifting uncomfortably, staring at his feet. It had only been a few months since Chris's profiling incident.

"Sorry, man," Jess finally said, softening. Chris shrugged his shoulders, dismissive.

"It's cool," he said, gesturing for Jess to sit on the couch.

"I just can't sit and do nothing while this nazi reinstates global fascism," Jess groaned, conceding to the couch.

"Again, noble," Matt nodded. "And I respect you getting involved in the cause, but as your friend and editor, I need to remind you to be careful."

"You worry too much."

"You don't worry enough," Chris countered, offering Matt some support on the subject.

Jess smiled in spite of himself. He didn't hate having friends who cared; it was just something he could never get used to.

"Look, I'll be good as new in a few days, you'll see," Jess insisted.

"And you'll take it easy the new few days, right?" Matt checked.

"Of course," Jess promised.

"Well I'm glad it's out of your system," he sighed, looking relieved. Jess raised an eyebrow.

"What's out of my system?"

"The protesting."

"I'm still going on Saturday," Jess told him definitely.

Matt and Chris exchanged a look. They loved that Jess had finally found an outlet other than writing for his long-repressed teenage angst. But he had a way of being headstrong and stubborn at the expense of his own safety.

"But you said you'd rest," Matt all but whined.

"Yeah, man, there will be more protests," Chris insisted. "That's not 'taking it easy.'"

"I'm still going on Saturday," Jess repeated himself firmly.

His friends exchanged another look. This one Jess was fully aware of, and he rolled his eyes before pushing himself off of the couch.

He tossed the ice pack into Chris's hands and exited the room, heading towards the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Chris called.

"We weren't done reprimanding you, Mariano," Matt joined.

"Do it later," Jess yelled as he trudged up the steps. "I'm going to bed."

It was mere seconds before the guys were at his heels.

"You can't sleep!" Matt yelled.

"You're concussed!" Chris called.

"Go away!" Jess groaned, trying to quicken his pace up the stairs. Everything was moving around him though.

"No, get back here!"

"We're going to the emergency room whether you want to or not."

* * *

 **AN** : Hope you enjoyed it :)


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you all for the wonderful and positive feedback :) I wasn't sure how it would be received.**

* * *

Rory sighed into the phone.

" _Mom_ , I thought you'd be excited for me," she challenged, placing a hand on her hip as if her mother could see her.

" _Rory_ , I am excited for you," Lorelai countered, doing the same thing on her end. "But I'm not excited for you to be in a crowd of angry people."

"It's an anti-Trump protest, mom," Rory pushed. "They're angry at the government, not at reporters."

"You don't know that," Lorelai insisted.

"I'm going to be collecting anecdotes and seeing what's going on for myself," Rory explained. "I won't be an obvious reporter. Besides, protesters want nothing more than to have their rallies publicized. If I do get caught, that might give me a safety net."

She heard her mom sigh over the phone and could almost imagine the look of stubborn defeat on her face.

"You'll call me before and after?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

Rory smiled and blew her hair away from her face, relieved.

"Of course."

"Okay. Well. Knock 'em dead."

Rory laughed.

"That's not really what we say in the journalism field."

"Break a leg?"

"Nope."

"You get the gist," Lorelai conceded, throwing her hand up at the phone dismissively.

"I do," Rory said, nodding. She heard her mother sigh and bit her lip.

There was a pause between them.

"Miss you, kid," Lorelai said softly.

"Miss you, mom," Rory admitted.

They hung up the phone after another moment or two of light banter and Rory plopped down on her couch with a thud.

It had been a while since Rory had been home to Stars Hollow; she had only managed to visit twice in the last six months because of the _Inquirer_. She knew that Lorelai understood, but it was still hard not seeing each other so much. Even when she had gotten away, it was only for a day or two.

The last time that she had been home for _more_ than a day or two was the wedding a few years back. Rory had first traveled the country following Obama's campaign for the year, and then she had spent the next few months helping Lorelai get things in order.

She hadn't known what to think when her mom and Luke got engaged again. Rory was happy for her mom, of course, but having suffered through the painful and short-lived reunion of Lorelai-Christopher, she wanted to make sure her mom was certain. But Luke had really outdone himself on Rory's goodbye party, and she smiled thinking about how that had set things in motion.

As it were, the wedding was promptly planned after Lorelai and Luke worked their kinks out. It had been strange to think that Luke would _officially_ be her stepfather, instead of just the man with the coffee who acted like a father.

Rory smiled now thinking about it all. She walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a K-cup, simultaneously hitting the button to warm up the Keurig. She leaned against the counter, arms crossed patiently.

Rory was lost in her thoughts until she heard a bedroom door open. She looked up expectantly as her roommate Ethan waltzed in, lazily pushing his glasses to his face.

"Morning, sunshine," Rory giggled as Ethan shot her a murderous look.

"It's too early for living," he croaked, throwing himself over the ledge of the couch into the cushions.

"Coffee before I head out?" Rory asked, shaking the box of K-cups.

"Mhmm," Ethan mumbled in between the couch cushions.

Rory chuckled and took out another pod. She would never tell her mother she used this thing. Lorelai refused to use anything but the good old fashioned coffee pot she'd grown up with. The Keurig she and Luke had gotten her for Christmas last year had been promptly donated to the inn dining room space for guests.

Sookie and Michel had been thrilled, but it wasn't long before they regretted it. Her mother had on more than one occasion scoffed and pointed and picked on Sookie and Michel for "turning to the dark side," as she called it. She had made Rory take a fake oath never to cave in to mass consumerism and she promised, hiding her machine in secrecy.

As the machine whirred for the second cup, Ethan dislodged himself from the cushions and walked over to the small island in the apartment kitchen.

"So today is the day, huh?" He asked, grateful as Rory handed him her original mug full of coffee.

"Today is the day," Rory confirmed, smiling as the Keurig finally gave her another cup.

"Nervous?" Ethan asked, sipping. He made a face and went for the sugar. He never understood how Rory drank coffee black.

"Mostly excited," she said with a warm smile. "It'll be cool to be in the thick of things again, you know? It's different than being around a bunch of reporters trying to get the same story you are."

Ethan nodded. "And you don't think you'll have any competition?"

"I'm sure we won't be the only paper there," Rory said softly, holding the mug in both hands to warm her. "I just don't anticipate everyone clamoring to get a front page article."

Ethan shrugged and looked thoughtfully at his roommate of a year.

"Just be careful Ror, will ya?"

Rory smiled and placed a hand quickly on his.

"You got it."

Ethan looked skeptical but he nodded, accepting her promise. He placed the coffee down on the counter and looked at the clock.

"Didn't you want to get there a few hours early?" Ethan questioned.

"Yeah, why?" Rory looked concerned and checked her watch.

"Shouldn't you be heading out already?" Ethan nodded at the clock on the wall.

Rory looked at the clock and then checked her watch again. They read very different things.

Rory looked at her phone and groaned. Her watch was definitely wrong. What good was a watch that didn't tell the proper time?

"I'm late!" She yelled, running to grab shoes.

"You can't be late if you're going two hours early," Ethan pointed out casually. Rory shot him a pouty face as she tugged on her sneakers.

"Bye!" She said suddenly, grabbing her keys and messenger bag in one swift motion. She wondered if this wasn't how the White Rabbit felt, scurrying off to his destination.

Ethan chuckled and waved her off, taking a sip of his coffee again as the door slammed.

He made another face. Needed more sugar.

Rory practically ran down the stairs of their second-floor apartment as she cursed her watch. She'd wanted to get there early to check out the scene and see if she could get any details from the organizers. She sighed and all but sprinted to the bus stop.

* * *

"Adrian and Kelly can hold down the fort while you rest. You helped plan, isn't that enough?" Chris probed. Jess shot him a look.

"Jess, it's _really_ not a good idea," Matt tried one last time.

At this point, Jess thought he deserved a medal for how long he'd entertained Matt and Chris trying to talk him out of things. Jess felt his teenaged self come through as he looked in the mirror, attempting to gel his hair into a manageable mess.

"So I've been told," he offered casually, frowning at the bruise on his temple. There was a time where he wouldn't have minded having a visible bruise because it meant comfort from a girl.

Now he just felt like an asshole.

"Jess, man, you're really going to go?" Chris checked, frowning. He and Matt looked at each other in frustration before Matt threw up his hands.

"I give up on him," he groaned, huffing and turning on his heel to exit Jess's room.

"Don't play hard to get, Matt, he likes it," Chris commented with a sigh, staring as he saw Jess's reflection smirk.

"Well, I can't help it," Matt called from the other room. "He's a stubborn ass."

"Does Hallmark know about you?" Jess called over his shoulder, finally feeling satisfied with the mess of locks.

"Jess," Chris warned. He knew Jess was only joking, but he also knew that Matt was pissed and didn't need more provocation from the peanut gallery.

Jess held up his hands in mock surrender. He went to exit the bathroom but Chris stood in his way.

"We really can't make you reconsider? Just to sit this one out until your concussion goes away?" Chris asked softly, furrowing his eyebrows at his friend and colleague.

Jess sighed.

"You really can't. My mind's made up and Adrian and Kelly are counting on me to help them out. I can't just bail and I don't want to, either," Jess told him honestly. He saw the look of concern on Chris's face but pursed his lips to stay firm. He knew his friends cared, but he really did think they were overreacting.

"It can go on without you, you know," Matt called from the living room.

Chris sighed and sidestepped to allow Jess out.

"You're probably right, but it won't, because I'm going," Jess countered in his direction, hints of annoyance in his tone. He looked at his watch.

"Well, I guess you're off then," Chris sighed.

Jess smiled and briefly touched his hand to Chris's shoulder.

"I'll check in."

" _You'll_ call?" Chris didn't look convinced. Jess couldn't help but hold back a smirk.

"Don't look so shocked, bud," he said over his shoulder, walking out of his room and past Matt who remained stone faced on the couch.

"You don't ever call when you say you will," Matt grumbled.

"Who needs a girlfriend when I have you two to nag me?" Jess countered playfully. He ducked as Matt chucked a pillow at his head, dipping out of the doorway with his jacket in one swift motion.

"I'll call," Jess said firmly, poking his head back in before closing the door behind him.

Jess tugged his jacket on over his shoulders and zipped it up. He frowned as he shoved his hands in his pockets, a finger poking through. He grumbled to himself about needing a new jacket.

He'd been wearing this leather jacket for years now. It wasn't the same he'd had as a teenager; that one had stopped fitting around 24. He'd bulked up a little in the boxing ring since then. Boxing had its perks; Jess had a positive way to get out aggression, it made him more energetic, and women didn't exactly complain about his body. But it also had its cons — like forcing him to get new jackets as a creature of habit.

Jess was fortunate to live in the heart of Philadelphia, not too far from where the organized protest was being held. He rolled his eyes as he checked his phone, viewing a text from Adrian asking where he was. As if he wasn't already showing up two hours early.

He had met Adrian at an open house for the Truncheon. They often hosted local artists to feature their work in the space, especially for events. Adrian knew Matt, who introduced him to Jess. They'd hit it off pretty well, talking about books and the movement behind protest art, and that was all she wrote. They were instant pals, and it was a no brainer that Jess would help him plan the protest when Adrian had asked the week before.

Adrian introduced Jess to Kelly, too. That was another story all its own. One minute she was falling over Adrian and the next, she was making passes at him.

As Jess rounded the corner, he spotted Kelly's lavender colored hair bobbing next to Adrian. They were engaged in a conversation before she noticed Jess approaching. Adrian turned and waved him over before going back to what he was doing.

Kelly kept her eyes on Jess as he approached. He shifted under the weight of her gaze. Something in her look changed and she smirked ever so lightly.

Jess raised an eyebrow and shoved his hands deeper into his pocket. He offered a smirk back and she winked before turning away.

Jess sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

Women.

* * *

 **AN: There you go :) Please let me know what you think! The rally is a'coming.**


	4. Chapter 3

Rory felt her phone buzz as she stepped off of the bus.

She looked down at her phone and rolled her eyes, smiling. It showed a text from Lorelai asking if she'd made it to the rally okay. Rory chuckled to herself before texting her mother a quick response, promising to call her after things had happened.

Rory looked at her watch and grimaced, remembering that it wasn't keeping the right time. She sighed, unlatching the band and shoving it into her bag.

As she went to check her phone for the time, another text popped in. She froze, her stomach twisting into a small knot.

 _Hey, I'll be in town tonight. Can we catch up?_

Rory bit her lip, switching her weight from hip to hip. She knew she should say no. She had way too much work to do.

 _I might have a lot of work to do_ , she typed back.

Rory inhaled deeply and felt annoyed at herself. She couldn't manage a simple "no" when it came to him.

She shoved her phone back into the side pocket of her jacket and set about her way, pulling the address of the rally out of her other pocket. She looked at the crossroads she was at and ventured to the left.

GPS had made directions way easier in the last several years, but Rory liked to believe she was old school; she was confident in her sense of direction and ability to read a street sign. She preferred this to staring at a screen, much like she preferred to pick up a newspaper or a book instead of reading online articles.

She shoved both of her hands in her pockets now, shivering a bit from the wind chilling through Philly. Rory looked around to see if she could find the statue that had been mentioned as the meet-up spot on the rally fliers. Once Rory recognized that it was a few yards ahead of her, she picked up her pace.

Another buzz in her pocket.

Without removing her phone, she used her hand to tilt the device to the side, opening the pocket wider. She cocked her head to read whatever message had come in.

 _So I'll be a pleasant distraction._

Rory bit her lip again and went to pull out her phone to reply. Before she really got an opportunity to do anything else, she collided into a solid figure, dropping her phone to the ground.

"Oh God, sorry," she mumbled, stumbling backwards.

"It's quite alright, my dear," a deep voice assured her.

Rory looked up as the figure bent down to grab her phone, putting her hand on her forehead. The man smiled warmly as he handed Rory her device.

"Thanks," she offered shyly, sporting an embarrassed smile.

"No problem. It's probably my fault anyway," he chuckled.

Rory chuckled politely and hugged her arms to her chest, studying the man. He had a nicely defined jaw line with bright green eyes and well-kept silver hair, a stray bang hanging down in his eyes.

"Adrian," he said, placing a hand on his chest to indicate himself. He held out a hand for Rory to shake.

She eyed him for a beat too long, earning an eyebrow raise from Adrian. Rory shook herself out of staring at his hand and grabbed it, shaking it.

"I'm… Lorelai," she said, hesitating only a moment. Something in the man's eyes changed as she let his hand go.

"What a lovely name," he commented thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest.

Rory shifted under his gaze.

"Are you here for the rally?" She tried, gesturing behind them at the statue. There were several people walking around, setting up sound systems and banners.

Adrian looked behind him, waving as a young woman with tan skin and lavender hair stopped adjusting a microphone to eye him suspiciously. She waved back before returning to what she was doing.

"You could say that," he chuckled, uncrossing his arms to study her.

"Oh?" Rory asked curiously. Adrian gestured towards the statue, beckoning for her to follow him.

She bit her cheek for a second, mentally preparing a lightning-speed pro/con list for following Adrian. For one, he could be an asset to getting information for the article, bystander reaction and all. On the other hand, he could be a serial killer. She realized how stupid she was being, given that she had been the one to convince her mother that she would be safe. It was sincerely unlikely that Adrian was the next Ted Bundy.

Rory noticed Adrian giving her a strange look and she stepped closer, having made her decision. She held her messenger bag tightly to her and made sure to unlatch the small pocket that held pepper spray.

"So, are _you_?" Adrian finally asked, leading them towards a stage.

"Am I what?" She asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"Here for the rally?" He asked lightly, waving a hand around to indicate the space.

"Oh, yes," Rory nodded quickly, offering Adrian a smile.

He stopped a ways past the statue and Rory noticed the girl with lavender hair watching from the microphones again. Rory raised an eyebrow but turned her attention back to Adrian as he cleared his throat.

"Well, we're glad to have you," Adrian said with a nod, lightly clapping his hand on Rory's shoulder.

"We?"

He waved his hand to gesture around them again.

"You're here what," Adrian paused to check his watch. "Two hours early? Everyone here is helping to set up, so you're our first official rallyer! I'm one of the organizers."

Rory couldn't help from letting an excited smile plaster itself onto her face. She was glad the pro side of her pro/con list had won out.

"Really!" She exclaimed, immediately fumbling with the flap on her messenger bag to grab her reporter's notepad.

"That's actually really wonderful," she explained at the surprised look she felt him giving her, head still down on her bag. "I actually work for a newspaper; I'd love to get a few words from you."

Adrian shook his head as Rory pulled out a pen and notepad successful. His look was skeptical as she looked up at him expectantly.

"Why not?" She asked, almost pouting. She knew a nonverbal "no" when she saw one.

"Speaking to press is not my thing," he said with a smile.

Just as Rory was set to pitch herself, Adrian tilted his head and gestured with his hand for somebody in the distance to come to him. Rory turned her head, trying to see who was being beckoned, but Adrian spoke again before she could get a good look.

"One of the other organizers is good with words," Adrian admitted, a smile on his eyes. "If you haven't noticed, English isn't my first language."

He waved his hand dismissively. "I'll introduce you and leave you to it, okay?"

Rory nodded gratefully. She hadn't really noticed that much of an accent.

"That's amazing, thank you so much!" She held out her hand to shake his in gratitude.

He took it and chuckled again.

"Just make me sound good when I get a mention," he winked and reached out his arm to Rory's shoulder, turning her as he welcomed the person he'd gestured towards.

Rory turned around and she went through a range of emotions as the man walked closer.

* * *

"What're you bent out of shape for?" Jess asked, looking up as Kelly adjusted the microphones. She held out her hand and he fed her a wire to plug in.

"Adrian is walking some chick around," she muttered with a scowl, roughly connecting the device.

Jess held back a laugh and tried to find Adrian in the direction that Kelly's eyes were shooting daggers.

"She's probably here for the rally," Jess pointed out lightly.

He finally caught Adrian's eye as he leaned into a conversation with the woman in question. Jess rose an eyebrow; he wasn't sure what Kelly was worrying about. Adrian wasn't a brunette kind of guy. Jess, on the other hand, wouldn't push one away.

He rolled his eyes at himself. Not that he really dated all that much.

 _Well, there's Shane_ , he thought to himself. But his subconscious scoffed back at him.

Shane was a casual thing, nothing serious. She had thrown out the L word to Jess and he'd thrown it back, but he didn't really mean it. He doubted that she did, either.

They had fun and it was nice to talk politics with somebody. Shane wasn't a bright bulb, but there were flickers of light in certain subjects. But Matt and Chris weren't fans, so that made even considering Shane a less-casual-thing an issue.

The one time Shane _did_ come to stay over, Matt had hid all of the good cookies in his room. He was always freaking out about his weight and offered cookies to anyone who walked in, because "more for them was less for him." So when he'd seen Matt do that, it was sign enough for Jess.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as he saw Adrian beckon him over. Jess raised an eyebrow again, shrugged, and headed towards Adrian and the brunette.

Jess saw the twinkle in his friend's eye as he approached the two. He frowned, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

That twinkle meant one of two things, Jess knew from experience. One, that Adrian was setting Jess up with somebody he thought was a good match for him, or two, something to do with interviews. Jess really hoped it was a new kind of twinkle, because the last thing he needed was to speak to a reporter or get set up with a girl while he had this huge bruise on his face.

"Ah, just the man I'm looking for!" Adrian said towards Jess, spreading his arm out to welcome his presence as his other arm turned the brunette's shoulder.

 _Rory_?

To say he was surprised at the blue eyes staring back at him was an understatement. He didn't know Lorelai's daughter well, but he knew her enough to be surprised that she was in Philadelphia. At a protest, of all things.

But to say the girl in front of him wasn't going through her own share of intense feelings would be an understatement. Jess watched as surprise shifted to shocked and as shocked melted into embarrassment— _Why_ , he wondered—finally landing on a shy happiness.

The brunette ducked her head as Jess stepped forward to shake Adrian's hand, their usual way of greeting one another.

"So Jess, I want to introduce you to—"

" _Lorelai_ ," Rory emphasized, stepping forward to offer her hand to Jess. She looked a lot more together than before, her emotions in check. Jess offered her a curious look and grasped her hand with his.

"Nice to meet you… Lorelai," He smirked, letting go of her hand. "I'm Jess."

"Nice to meet you Jess," the girl said with a smile, hugging her arms self-consciously to her body.

Adrian looked between the two with eyebrows raised and shot Jess a questioning look. Jess shrugged ever so slightly, finally breaking eye contact with the girl.

"Right, well, Lorelai here is a reporter," Adrian continued after clearing his throat. "She'd like to cover our protest, isn't that something?"

Adrian turned to smile at her when he spoke to Jess. Rory returned the smile before turning back to Jess.

"Adrian said he isn't so stellar with words and thought you might be able to help me," she explained, looking at Jess expectantly.

Jess offered the smallest of smiles before nodding a quick "okay." He knew if he didn't agree, he would never get to the bottom of this.

"Great!" Adrian clapped Jess's shoulder, very bro-esque, and waved at Rory. "See you soon!"

"Bye Adrian!" She called with a smile, waving back.

Jess watched her fidget as she finally turned to face him, arms tucked back across her chest. She looked a lot more uncomfortable now than when she had when Adrian was still there.

"So, Jess…" Rory trailed off awkwardly.

"So, _Lorelai_ ," he emphasized, smirking.

Before Rory could respond, Kelly called out his name from the stage area, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

Jess held up a hand to indicate that he would be with her in a minute. He saw Kelly huff and tap her foot. He rolled his eyes.

"Who is she?" Rory asked curiously.

"Why, you interested?" Jess smirked, turning to face her.

Rory narrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not gay, Jess. I was just wondering if..."

"If she's my girlfriend?" Jess offered.

"Well, just based on the way she's looking at you," Rory chuckled, diverting her eyes towards the girl who stood staring.

"Does it matter?" He shrugged, shifting his weight to lean away from her. At the deer-in-headlights look on her face, he smirked.

"No, I—I," Rory fumbled over her words. Jess softened his expression, hoping to convey that he was just teasing her. She seemed to loosen up a bit once he did.

"I'm just trying to get a story," Rory covered, gesturing towards Kelly with her notepad. "Two lovers in the heat of political unrest building a movement?"

Jess raised his eyebrow, wondering how true her statement was. He didn't know Rory enough to know her dodges.

"Jess!" Kelly called again.

The two looked back at Kelly again. At the sight of Rory turning around, his friend frowned. Rory smiled sweetly and waved, causing Jess to chuckle.

"Kelly isn't my girlfriend," Jess practically muttered before shaking his head with a smile. Something akin to curiosity flashed through Rory's eyes.

"Look I gotta go, but find me after? I'll talk to you about whatever you want to know."

Rory smiled gratefully.

"Within reason," he warned.

He was surprised when he felt her arms around him. Blinking back his shock, he hugged her back.

"Sorry," Rory gushed, stepping away with an apologetic smile. "I know we haven't seen each other in like four years, but hugging seemed okay."

"Hugging is… okay," Jess said after a moment, nodding.

Rory looked past Jess and nudged him.

"She wants you," she said pointedly.

Jess rolled his eyes and waved goodbye, turning on his heel. His thoughts were going a mile a minute trying to process. He really didn't want to deal with Kelly's on again, off again bit she had with him.

"Keep your underwear on, Kel," Jess groaned, moving past her back to the equipment he'd abandoned her with.

"I would if I was wearing any," she cooed in his ear, smirking as he tried not to let the blood drain from his face to other places.

Kelly stood and watched him, stealing glances back at Rory, who had begun talking to random people.

"Who's the brunette?" She tried to say casually, folding her arms over her chest.

He smirked as he thought about Rory's similar question.

"Why, you interested?" He said for the second time that day.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "As if."

"She's a f...," Jess hesitated, realizing that Rory probably didn't want her cover blown to anyone except him. "A reporter for a newspaper, wanted to chat," he finished, standing up.

"And that's all?" Kelly asked, jealousy in her tone.

"We have set up to do," Jess said dismissively, walking over to Adrian.

Kelly raised her eyebrow and looked again from Jess to the so-called reporter. She resolved to find out more after the protest was over.

* * *

The hours passed quickly leading up the rally. Rory busied herself with talking to some of the folks volunteering to set up and the other early rally attendees.

Once she felt she exhausted her options—in reality, she just couldn't feel her fingers anymore— Rory headed to a coffee shop across the street, hoping to recaffeinate and warm up.

She chose a seat by the window so she had a full view of the statue. The set up had progressed nicely; there were microphones on stands, speakers, and banners all around a stage. Rory saw Jess in the distance waving his hand around as the lavender-haired girl stood by a microphone. She assumed some kind of mic check was happening.

It felt so weird to see Jess. Luke had mentioned that his nephew lived in Philadelphia, but all descriptions of the young author had pegged Jess as the silent, brooding type. It didn't seem to make sense to who Rory perceived as a stereotypical rally organizer. Somebody more like the lavender-haired Kelly who seemed annoyed at everything fit that.

Rory shrugged to herself and started to write on her notepad. She thought about Jess as she absently ran her pen over the page. It had been around four years since she had last seen him. Even at that, she barely knew anything about him.

Rory considered what she did know, jotting it down to reference if needed for the article. She knew he was born some time in October, like her. He wrote, but she wasn't sure what exactly—poetry? Novels? Short stories? Rory also knew he had a younger sister and a seemingly strained relationship with his mother and stepfather, but she didn't know anything about a father figure. She knew that Luke loved him a lot.

Rory chewed the inside of her cheek for a second. This was less about journalism and more about her own curiosity, she realized. This guy had always been an enigma to her, from the day he walked into Stars Hollow to right now. She could count on her hands how many actual conversations she had had with the guy, and judging from her pathetic list of "Things I Know About Jess Mariano," that wasn't enough to make any judgments about him. Or his ability to plan a protest.

As something caught Rory's attention from the corner of her eye, she realized she'd been in a daze. She looked up from her notepad and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of Kelly standing outside the window. Rory raised an eyebrow and grabbed her things as the girl beckoned her to come outside.

"Hi, sorry, you scared me," Rory apologized, slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder.

"If you startle easily, you probably shouldn't be at a rally," Kelly joked, hints of seriousness in her tone.

Rory chose to ignore that and just shrugged.

"I'm Lorelai," she offered.

"Kelly."

There was an awkward pause between them as Kelly stared at Rory.

"Is everything okay?" Rory asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

The girl gestured towards the rally area, where clusters of people were beginning to form.

"The rally is set to start in fifteen minutes," Kelly explained, running a hand absently through her hair.

"Oh okay," Rory breathed, looking at her phone. She'd definitely gotten lost in her thoughts; she'd had roughly forty-five minutes to go when she began that list.

"Yeah… Jess wanted me to tell you so you could find a position before you're lodged in between people," Kelly said with a shrug.

Rory smiled at the consideration of the mystery man.

"Thanks!" She replied happily as the two women began walking back to the area.

"Sure. He wouldn't want his girlfriend to get hurt," Kelly commented, side-eyeing Rory.

"I'm not his girlfriend," Rory exclaimed incredulously, giving Kelly a look.

"You sure seemed cozy before," Kelly pointed out as they approached the crowd.

"Jess said you're a reporter. But you hugged him, so I think you're more than that."

Rory and the girl paused to stare at each other.

"Look Kelly, I don't know what you two have going on, but trust me. That hug was mere excitement from him agreeing to an interview and me using my girlish wiles to get my way. That's all," Rory fibbed, mustering up all the casual confidence she could.

Kelly looked like she was thinking before she sighed and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Rory watched the girl decide whether or not she believed her.

"Look, sorry. Jess just keeps his personal life so private. It wouldn't surprise me that he would have a secret girlfriend," Kelly admitted, shrugging.

Rory had a feeling that there was more to that than Kelly was willing to convey, but Rory really didn't have time to get into details with somebody she didn't really know. She wanted to keep her identity as much to herself as possible and figured that if Jess had wanted her to know something, he'd have told her.

"I'm just interviewing Jess for my story," Rory explained lightly.

"I think I'm going to go get in position in the crowd," Rory said then with a smile as more people began approaching the crowd.

Kelly nodded and waved as she ducked past Rory towards the stage and began maneuvering around people.

* * *

"Thank you all for coming," Adrian called into the microphone.

Many people in the crowd cheered and hollered in acknowledgement. Jess shifted towards the stairs of the stage, scanning the crowd.

He looked for Rory before finally locating her. She wasn't far away; there was maybe a row or two of people in front of her. He saw her scribbling on her notepad already and smiled to himself. He couldn't help but think that the intense look of concentration on her face was cute.

He looked past Rory at the crowd gathered.

He had to admit that this was a good feeling, knowing that he had directly contributed to bringing this protest to fruition. There were over 200 people gathered and more were pouring into the crowd by the minutes. Jess let himself ride the high of political movements as he waited for his cue.

"I'd like to welcome my friend and co-organizer to the stage, Jess Mariano. You've all read his book, right?"

Many people in the crowd clapped and cheered to show their support. Jess nodded shyly in appreciation. He was surprised, if he was being honest.

"Kelly is the muscle behind this operation, but Jess is the voice. I'm just the pretty face," Adrian admitted with a laugh.

The crowd laughed with Adrian and clapped. Jess took the steps two at a time. He playfully nudged his friend as they passed each other. He felt eyes on him as he rubbed his hands together to keep them warm. Jess took a deep breath and stepped up to the mic.

* * *

Rory watched as Jess took the stage. The look on his face told her that he wasn't the kind of guy to make speeches in front of people. But there was a presence about him, and the crowd seemed to push her forward to hear what he had to say.

"Hey," he said softly. Rory watched as his eyes scanned the crowd.

"Holy shit, there's a lot of you out here," Jess commented, earning himself a round of laughter. "Uh, I'm not much of a public speaker, so you'll have to bare with me. I wrote some stuff down but that feels lame so I'm just gonna wing it."

Rory smiled, pencil ready. She watched Jess bite his lip before beginning.

"Thanks for being here. I also want to say hello to the local precinct on the wings," he gestured his arm out to the edges of the crowd, where a team of police officers stood ready. "We won't get rowdy if you don't," he added.

Woops rose from the crowd, and a few officers frowned. Jess took a deep breath and blew it out into the microphone. He stuck his left hand in the pocket of his jeans, using his right to wave around.

"I want to acknowledge that Kelly and Adrian have more of a right to be speaking to you than I do. To protect their safety I don't want to disclose their personal lives, but their voices are less in the dominant narrative than mine is as a white man. So thank you to my friends for permitting me to take up space that belongs to them.

I think it's dope that you're all here. Seriously, when we were organizing this thing, we never expected so many supporters. I mean sure, we hoped people would come out. We hoped people would read our email blasts and fliers… But hey, I'm a writer; I know that just because you put it on paper, doesn't mean people will read it."

The crowd chuckled. Jess looked around at the different faces. His eyes landed on Rory again, scribbling away.

"We are here for different reasons. Some of us are terrified for our lives, the lives of our loved ones. Some of you have had to explain to your kids what might happen if DACA gets repealed, or arrange guardianship with friends if Trump's administration cracks down on undocumented citizenship. Some have experience with conversion therapy and are terrified for the future of queer and transgender youth. Some are afraid of another post-9/11 wave of extreme Islamophobia. Some are already experiencing the systemic and social genocide happening to men of color, specifically Black men. Some of you are just fucking pissed you didn't get your way.

Whatever your motivation to come out, we see you. It takes a crowd to make a protest, but it takes a people to build a movement. This rally isn't just about protesting what we perceive to be an unjust outcome. It's about mobilizing for legitimate action. Some of the rallies, like the ones in Love Park, are about that - peace and love and tolerance."

Jess pauses, looking over at the police, who have now shown up on either side of the crowd.

"We're about the peace and love too, but not so much the tolerance. Tolerance doesn't promote radical change; it promotes indifference to action. We aren't gonna get anywhere without understanding why people chose Trump and addressing why almost half the country who was eligible to vote chose not to do so. But that doesn't mean we have to hold hands and have a kumbaya moment with people who voted against the safety and livelihoods of marginalized communities.

People are angry. Anger is a good place to be in to do something. Tolerance for bigotry to hope it changes things is a privilege and a luxury many people in this crowd—in this country—can't afford. Don't stand for others telling you that you're overreacting or that things aren't that bad or to just give Trump's shoddy administration a chance. Screw that. You are your own truth. You are the revolution; you are the radical shift the country needs; and you need to stay motivated and enthusiastic and mad past this week, past this month, and past this year if we want things to change for real.

It's a time to mobilize and capitalize on our fears. Use this energy to do something worthwhile, to organize for justice, and to cultivate a country that we feel proud of. And to the privileged in the space, myself included? This isn't the problem of the marginalized to fix; it's white people, citizens, straight people, the list goes on. We need to be allied to do this together, but we can't lead on the shoulders of people who have been in the struggle their whole lives.

If democracy can elect a president, democracy can reject one. Not all of us share the same ideologies; that's cool. If you're dismantlement kind of person, work on that shit. If you're a reform kind of person, work on that shit. If you're a support kind of person, _work on that shit_. We are all affected and we all have a role in the revolution, big or small. But we need to collectively resist because in just a few months, the shitstorm of red tape is coming our way. There's no Senate or House to pushback; we need to be the pushback to our government.

In the words of Audre Lorde, we need to be deliberate and afraid of nothing. In the words of Assata Shakur, we have nothing to lose but our chains. Let's do this together."

Rory snapped out of her trance and looked down at her notepad as the crowd erupted around her. It held little to nothing in it regarding the speech Jess had just made. She had been so entranced by his words that she'd just… listened.

She scolded herself for failing to take notes, but Rory could still hear Jess in her head. She knew she would be able to recount his words later.

The rally proceeded with crowd members coming up to the stage to give personal testimonies. Kelly also stood up at the microphone and spoke about the importance of a "we" movement, which Rory found compelling.

Everything seemed to be going well. Rory caught Jess's eye and she smiled at him, to which he smiled back. By now more people had joined the crowd, including more police officers. It got harder and harder for Rory to see Jess.

She decided to try to get across to him to get out of the crowd so she wouldn't lose him for the interview. She heard some shouting and a whistle being blown in the direction she was pushing towards, and then it all happened so quickly.

People started pushing and shoving. Some people shouted. Rory was being moved this way and that way, trying to surge forward to where she'd last remembered Jess being. The energy was high and the tension was thick, and a lump caught in Rory's throat as she began to panic.

She realized that something had happened towards the front of the stage, and that people were afraid.

By the time Rory got over to where Jess had been, it had already happened. A look of horror exploded on her face at the sight.

Adrian was in handcuffs with a cut on his face; he didn't look conscious. A man was shouting obscenities as a cop kneeled in on him to calm him down, cuffing his hands behind his back. And Jess was being escorted by three police officers to a car that had conveniently pulled up.

"Jess!" Rory screamed, waving her hands frantically as people rushed around her.

"Get Luke's number from Matt!" He yelled at her, moving against the police officers. Jess looked a lot more calm than Rory thought he ought to be, but there was a fierce look in his eyes.

"What?" She yelled back, not sure what he was saying. She heard Luke and Matt, but wasn't sure how that connected.

They sucked Jess's head into the car and slammed the doors while the police officers closest to Rory grabbed Addian and the yelling man.

"Excuse me? What happened?" Rory asked one of the officers who was mumbling into a walkie talkie.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss, miss," he told her frankly, gesturing for another officer to follow him.

"Please," Rory insisted, running in front of the officer. She wasn't sure what had possessed her.

"Miss—"

"I don't know if you know who I am, sir, but I'm a Gilmore and a writer," Rory said firmly, holding up a firm finger. "And Gilmores don't take no for an answer. That's my boyfriend your buddy just hauled off, and I deserve to know what the hell is going on! I'd be happy to talk to your superior officer. But I should warn you, your superior does not want to talk to me when I'm fired up because I can be very annoying and persistent. Just ask the Stamford Eagle-Gazette."

The police officer looked unsure and more annoyed at her than threatened. He groaned.

"District 6."

"Thank you," Rory said firmly and stormed off to call Luke and get to the station, mustering all of the attitude of an Emily Gilmore/Paris Geller combination she could manage.

* * *

 **AN** : Thanks for waiting and reviewing! :)


	5. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you all for your patience in this story. I needed some time to process what's going on in my country and focused on a lighter fanfiction, Taming Hemingway (slash, also obsessed with it). I imagine this chapter qualifies a bit as a filler, but it's long and works out some more ground between Rory and Jess :)**

* * *

Rory tapped her foot impatiently. When had Luke ever not answered the diner's phone?

She sighed after the third failed attempt and chewed her lip before thinking of the obvious. She quickly pressed the home button on her phone and requested the device to call her mother.

"Rory! Thank God, I've been watching this rally on that Facebook live contraption and—"

"Mom," Rory interrupted. "I need you to save your witticisms until after you find me Luke."

She could almost hear her mother furrowing her eyebrows over the phone.

"Witticisms? I have no witticisms — I've been downright terrified that I was gonna get a call any minute that my kid was beaten like an egg!" Lorelai all but yelled, causing Rory to wince.

"What do you mean?" Rory asked, looking back in the general direction of the rally. After speaking to the police officer, she'd gotten the hell out of dodge to get ahold of Luke as Jess had asked.

"I _mean_ , the police were all over that place," Lorelai continued, her octave not any lower. "You weren't answering your phone, and it showed a lot of people getting arrested."

Rory deflated, finally hearing the fear in her mother's voice above her own annoyance.

"Mom, I've been trying to call Luke nonstop, I didn't have a chance to try to call you," Rory defended herself softly. "I'm fine. I'm sorry. I left about ten minutes ago."

Rory listened as her mother exhaled loudly from her nose. Lorelai cleared her throat on the other end, sighing.

"Okay," she responded softly.

"Mom, I need to talk to Luke," Rory reiterated, more gently this time.

"Why Luke?"

"It's Jess," Rory breathed, not really sure how to explain in minimal time that she'd run into him.

"Jess? Who is.. his _nephew_ -Jess?" Lorelai asked incredulously.

"Yes and I don't have time to explain right now," Rory said firmly. She put her hand to her forehead in frustration. " _Please_ mom, it's important. I need Luke."

"Hold on babe," Lorelai said after a moment. Rory heard some scuffling and rustles, but after a moment, Luke's voice carried through to the receiver.

"Rory? What's wrong?" He asked. Rory could almost see him standing there, hand on his hip, worry etched into his furrowed brows.

"Long story short, Jess got arrested at the rally I was covering and he asked me to get Matt's number from you," Rory gushed, relieved to have finally gotten connected to her stepfather.

"Oh geez," Luke groaned. "Wait, what's Jess doing… what are you doing with… never mind. Who did you say? Matt? His friend from the publishing company?"

Rory bit her lip. It had been sort've hard to hear Jess… maybe she'd gotten the name wrong.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Does he know other Matts? Or more importantly, has he given you the number of any other Matts?"

Luke paused for a moment. "No, this has to be the guy. They live together."

Rory nodded, considering this information and filing it away for later. Her knowledge of Jess was minimal at best, based on her little list earlier, so understanding him more felt important to her. She had this guy pegged as a lone wolf, and Rory found herself surprised that he lived with others for some reason.

She continued listening as Luke rummaged through his wallet to pull up Matt's number. If she hadn't been so worked up, Rory might have smiled at his blatant refusal to commit to storing contacts in his phone. She clicked her pen and jotted down Matt's number as Luke rattled it off to her.

"Got it," Rory quipped, clicking her pen point back into the casing. "Thanks Luke."

"Hey, Rory? Update me?"

Rory smiled softly. "Sure Luke. I'll call. Tell mom I love her and that I said bye."

"Will do."

Rory tapped off the call and immediately dialed this mysterious Matt. She checked the street before hurrying across, ignoring the red hand telling her to wait.

The call picked up on the fourth ring, just as Rory got the door to her apartment jiggled open.

"Truncheon Books, Matt speaking?" The falsetto voice answered on the other end.

"Hi, Matt? My name is Rory," she began, barreling through the door.

Ethan looked up from his position on the couch, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Rory held up a finger to indicate he needed to wait. Ethan put down his coffee and walked over to Rory, clearly waiting for facial cues as to why she was home so early.

"Hi Rory, what can I do for you?" Matt asked.

There was typing in the background and several conversations happening at once. Rory felt almost guilty, like she was interrupting. She took a deep breath.

"I'm a… friend?" Rory tried, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't really consider them related, despite Luke's affiliation. "Of Jess's. I was at the rally with him today, and, well, long story short, Jess was arrested."

Rory eyed Ethan, who at this point had his mouth gaping open.

"Again?" Matt groaned into the phone, slamming something down. Rory winced.

"Alright," he continued. "I'll have Chris call the districts to find out where they put him, and—"

"District six," Rory cut him off, leaning into Ethan as he came closer to rub the tension out of her arms. Ethan could feel the stress rolling off of his roommate's body. Her energy was really ruining the feng shui of the apartment.

"How did you find out?" Jess's friend inquired into the phone, sounding suspicious.

"Nobody says 'no' to a Gilmore," Rory chuckled, smiling on her end of the line.

"Well this elusive Gilmore character sounds like somebody I want in my Justice League," Matt noted playfully. "Okay so District six. I'll grab Chris and we'll head right out. Did you find out how much bail is?"

Rory blinked in surprise. She hadn't thought to ask.

"No, sorry, it was a high stress situation. Jess is actually my stepfather's nephew, so I had to field some calls rather quickly," Rory apologized, running a hand through her hair.

"So you're cousins? No kidding. He never talks about family aside from Luke."

Rory slapped her hand to her forehead, earning an alarmed look from Ethan. She shook her head. Even if she didn't feel like Jess's cousin, she could have said that to Matt. It might have made him feel less weird about her call.

Something small inside of Rory hurt for Jess's mom at Matt's words. Liz hadn't been great from what little Rory knew, but she did try.

"Yeah, in a weird way we are," she conceded, offering a courtesy chuckle.

"Cool. Anyways, no big deal. We got this. Thanks Rory."

And with that, the line went dead. Rory took the phone away from her ear slowly, looking up at Ethan.

"He hung up."

"Are you supposed to go?"

"I don't know, it seemed ambiguous," Rory admitted, feeling a little hopeless. "But I can't just abandon Jess. I mean, I haven't seen him in years but he's still Luke's nephew."

"You mean your cousin."

"Right."

Ethan gave Rory a knowing look.

"What?" She asked, scoffing.

"He's hot, isn't he?"

"Ethan!" Rory slapped him, putting her fists on her hips.

"He _is_! That's why you won't call him your cousin. You don't want to be a _weirdo_ ," Ethan emphasized weirdo, scrunching up his lips into a funny face and pointing an accusatory finger at Rory. Heat rose to her cheeks and Rory rolled her eyes.

"I won't call him my cousin because I barely know him," Rory insisted, shaking her head. "Can you drop this? Luke will be expecting an update soon." She didn't want to give Ethan any more reason to try to meddle in her love life.

"I see you dodging my accusation like Trump dodges questions about his tax returns," Ethan said, shaking his head. Rory stuck out her tongue as her roommate continued.

"I'm just concerned about Luke," Rory insisted firmly, crossing her arms. "He'll be waiting for me to give him a call. I don't really know Matt. I don't know if I can trust him to call Luke. Does he even have Luke's number? Luke having his didn't automatically qualify a reciprocal exchange, does it?"

"Slow down, Ror. Since you've got the Gilmore chops to extract information, maybe we should make sure things pan out okay," Ethan said with a shrug. "That way nothing is left up to good intentions."

He reached into his back pocket for his keys, dangling them.

"We? Ethan! You don't have to come; he's not _your_ stepdad's nephew," Rory protested, frowning. Ethan rolled his eyes.

"We've known each other for how many years now? Besides, how else will I find out this juicy story before it becomes a headline?" Ethan winked, ushering Rory out of the door.

"You just want to see what Jess looks like," Rory countered, tying her hair into a ponytail with a smile.

"You can prove nothing," Ethan said dismissively, closing the door behind them.

Rory smiled over her shoulder in gratitude and hurried down the stairs of their building, her best friend and roommate closely on her heels.

She pulled out her phone on the way down to remind herself to text Luke soon.

* * *

"And you still can't tell us anything?" Matt demanded, huffing.

"Since when... Parker?" Chris asked, squinting at the officer's name tag. He looked at Chris with a viciously disapproving look, to which the younger man bowed. "If I can call you Parker. They never withhold information when we try to get him out."

The officer rolled his eyes.

"This isn't a hospital," Matt protested, leaning towards the plexiglass separating the officer from the waiting room. "We don't have to be related to know anything."

"We're under orders not to release information yet," Officer Parker said with a sigh. "How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"Enough times that you're too tired to resist us," Matt suggested, putting his hand on his hip.

Officer Parker gestured towards the seats against the walls behind them.

"Have a seat, gentlemen. We'll know within the next couple of hours."

"Hours!?"

Matt and Chris exchanged an exasperated look. To say they felt defeated was an understatement. They'd been bickering with the officer for several minutes now, trying to glean information about Jess's bail and his release.

Matt sat anxiously against his seat, staring up at the ceiling. Chris took to tapping his leg impatiently, craning his head towards the release door every so often, wondering if Jess would come waltzing out.

"Can you stop tapping your leg?" Matt muttered, lazily shifting his gaze to his friend.

"Can you stop encroaching on my personal freedoms?" Chris retorted. Matt rolled his eyes and looked towards the front door as it burst open.

In walked a woman with bright blue eyes, flowing brown hair, and a fierce pep in her step. As she stalked up to the officer window, another person came wandering in behind her.

"Oh no, it's _fine_ \- just leave me to find parking," the man muttered, taking his thick rimmed glasses off of his face to clean them with his shirt.

Matt asked Chris a silent question with his eyes. His friend shrugged in return as the two watched the couple in front of them.

"Ethan, not now," the girl said dismissively. She turned on her heel and sized the men up. Matt suddenly felt like he was under intense scrutiny, and he sat up a little straighter under her gaze.

"Are you Matt?" She asked, biting her lip.

Matt paused for a second, trying to decide whether he should recognize this girl.

"I might be?" he offered, looking at Chris with a raised eyebrow.

"You are…?" Chris chimed in for his friend.

The girl broke out into a bright smile and walked closer, the guy called Ethan at her heel.

"Hi! I'm Rory, we spoke on the phone?"

"Right!" Matt said, clapping his hands together. Matt turned to face Chris, who looked like a great dishonor had been committed against him. Chris hated being out of the loop, but Matt had told him that Rory called - why was he bent out of shape?

"I"m Chris," Chris said with a wave, which Rory returned.

"Hi! Wow, I'm so glad to see you! I got here as fast as I could; you must live close if you beat me. This is Ethan," Rory paused to gesture behind her, "he's my roommate. Did you hear anything about Jess yet? Is it weird that I'm here? Luke wanted to be updated and I didn't know if you had his number, I know Jess and I haven't seen each other in a while, but-"

"How do you _breathe_!?" Chris exclaimed, holding his hands up to stop the ramble. He hadn't heard anyone speak so fast with so few pauses in… well, ever.

"Oh, sorry," Rory chuckled, heat rising to her cheeks. "It's a Gilmore thing."

"You get used to it," Ethan added, shrugging.

"To backtrack before you blew Chris's mind," Matt replied, clearing his throat. "We haven't heard anything because they won't _tell_ us anything."

Rory furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you mean they won't tell you anything? This isn't a hospital," Rory scoffed, raising her voice.

"Thank you! _She_ gets it," Chris exclaimed, throwing his hands out to Matt as if a great debate had previously transpired.

"They told us it would be a few hours yet," Matt informed the newcomers, sighing heavily.

"That's ridiculous," Rory said with a huff, stalking over to the same ledge by the Plexiglas where the guys had previously been unsuccessful.

* * *

"Hello, officer? My name is Rory Gilmore. Well, it's actually Lorelai, but my mother goes by that, so people call me Rory."

The officer stared at her, unimpressed. Rory cleared her throat and continued. If she had learned nothing else from being her mother's daughter, she had learned to fake confidence until she believed in herself.

"So anyway. I received a call that my fiancé was arrested," she began, running a hand through her hair.

"What's your fiancée's name, miss?" Officer Parker asked, pulling out a thick binder with names.

"Mariano? Jess Mariano?"

"Ah, him," Officer Parker continued, not bothering to open up the binder. "Sorry, he's a part of the protest arrest. You'll have to wait like I told his buddies over there."

Rory visibly deflated. She turned to look at the guys, mouthing 'help' to her roommate.

"Uh, why won't information be released?" Ethan cut in. Rory threw him a grateful look.

"We are under strict orders," the officer said with a sigh, as if he'd said it several times before.

"But that's my fiancé," Rory insisted, turning away from the group. "I deserve to know what's going on."

"Nothing I can do, ma'am. You'll have to wait until we're given different orders."

"I disagree. I think there's plenty you can do," Rory said sternly, crossing her arms over her chest. "How are you serving and protecting me when you refuse to give me information about my soon-to-be husband? Do you really want to see a young woman like me so distressed?"

"Ma'am, have a seat," Officer Parker deadpanned, waving a hand dismissively. Rory's mouth gaped open at the blatant disregard she was shown. She hadn't wanted to whip out her secret weapon, but there was no other choice.

Rory turned to face Ethan, and they exchanged what would only be called a squinty look, silently trying to decide something. She felt Matt and Chris watching them but paid them no mind.

"Paris?" Ethan asked, shrugging with his palms facing the sky.

"Yeah? I was leaning towards Emily," Rory admitted, biting the inside of her cheek in thought.

Chris and Matt exchanged looks for the second time before it seemed Matt really couldn't hold back wanting to feel included.

"Who now?" He asked, leaning his ear toward Rory.

"Oh, we're just deciding who's scarier," Ethan replied for her.

"One second," Rory said, excusing herself to dial a number on her phone.

"What's that about?" Chris asked, gesturing towards Rory, who was nodding her head and talking animatedly on her phone just in between the walkway of the lobby and the outside world.

"Just wait," Ethan informed him, watching as Rory came back with a smile on her face.

"I feel like we're being left out of some covert operation," Matt grumbled. Before Rory had time to explain, all four heads turned as the phone by Officer Parker rang.

They watched as the officer grumbled, groaned, and tried to verbally defend himself, all the while throwing daggers with his eyes at the foursome. Ethan smiled sweetly and waved, earning a chuckle from Chris.

"You can't threaten an officer like th-" Parker started before swallowing his words, his dark face growing paler by the millisecond. He growled and slammed down the receiver. He shot a look at Rory and beckoned her over with a finger.

"He's going to be released tomorrow morning," Parker growled, throwing himself down into his chair. "You can come at 7:00 in the morning to pick him up, or you can pay $300 now to get him out tonight."

Chris smiled, leaning onto the ledge past Rory. "Thank you so much, Officer Parker. I knew I liked you."

With one look from the officer, Chris retreated, stepping behind Matt. Matt rolled his eyes before digging into his pocket for his wallet. He looked at it curiously before putting it back inside his pants.

"How pissed will Jess be if we _don't_ bail him out?" Matt asked aloud, avoiding eye contact with his friend. Rory felt taken aback, and she felt Ethan tense up next to her.

"C'mon, man," Chris warned, giving his friend a look.

"What? Maybe it'll teach him to listen to us when we tell him not to go out," Matt grumbled, looking up at Chris now.

"You can't be serious right now," Chris gawked. "He's our best friend."

"Well, why should we constantly clean out our wallets bailing him out all of the time?" Matt retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Some best friend."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing. Jess would never leave you hanging. Stop being such a dick," Chris shot back, shoving Matt's shoulder.

"He hasn't been acting like it ever since he got caught up with Adrian," Matt growled, shoving Chris' shoulder back. The two glared at each other like two dogs snarling to see who would attack first.

"Whoa," Rory squeaked, placing herself in between the two. Her adrenaline was pumping, and she thought a little too late that maybe she shouldn't have thrown herself in between two heated men. "I don't know you very well, but I really don't want to have to bail all of you out of jail tonight."

"Yeah, cool it," Ethan said sternly. "And you guys don't have to clean out your wallets. Jess's uncle transferred money to Rory's account, so she's writing a check."

Matt inhaled deeply, sighing through his nose. He knew he was being a jerk. He was just tired of Chris enabling Jess to be reckless. The guy was the smartest of the three of them _easily_ , but somehow Jess never seemed to used that brain to think things out rationally.

"Sorry," Matt mumbled towards Chris. Chris sighed and shook his head. He didn't look like he had the mental capacity to deal with Matt's moodiness right now.

"So we're bailing him out?" Rory checked, looking between the two friends. Matt shrugged and Chris pursed his lips. Rory nodded her head and walked back over to the counter to work out the payment with the officer.

* * *

Rory fumbled with a frayed string on her jacket, lost in her thoughts. The last thing she had expected when she got up this morning was to be sitting in a police station, waiting to bail out a sort've-cousin. Aside from this afternoon, Rory hadn't seen Jess since he'd helped her figure out her life when she wanted to drop out of Yale. Rory bit her lip, willing that memory to go away so she could process it another time.

Thinking about him now, Rory couldn't explain why she felt so invested in making sure he was okay. Sure, he'd been really kind in giving her insight into the rally organization, and she couldn't deny that something about him made her want to talk to him. But that couldn't really hold much weight for the great lengths she was taking to support him.

Rory sighed, chalking up the good samaritanism to her love for Luke.

Rory felt a poke in her side and she flinched, glaring at Ethan. She rubbed the spot on her ribs, narrowing her eyes. Matt and Chris stood outside, talking about something.

"Rude," she quipped.

"Your phone's been buzzing off the charts, Dorothy," Ethan informed her, rolling his eyes. "Come back to Kansas."

Rory threw Ethan a confused look before digging her hand in her pocket to retrieve her device. Rory tapped her home screen, watching as it lit up with several missed text messages.

' _Ace? Is everything okay?'_

' _Offspring! How are things? Where are the updates I've been promised? And by me, I mean Luke, which is basically me.'_

' _I'm looking pretty desperate sending these texts, Ace.'_

' _Rory, answer mommy before she has a conniption.'_

' _How is Jess? - Luke.'_

Rory smirked at the last one. No matter how much her stepfather tried, Luke didn't seem to get the hang of text messaging… or if he did, he refused to conform. Lorelai would have a ball if she knew that he signed his text messages with his name, as if Rory didn't have his number saved as a contact.

Rory's finger lingered over her phone, staring at her non-familial texts, before she felt somebody leaning over her shoulder.

"Do you mind?" She grumbled at her roommate, nudging him with her shoulder.

"You're talking to Logan again?" Ethan asked, a hint of disapproval in his voice. If he hated anyone, it was that rich prick who treated Rory like a side piece.

"No, we're not talking," Rory defended, leaning away from Ethan to shoot a quick response to the man in question. "He's just in town again and he wanted to-"

"Get in your pants tonight and then leave tomorrow to reconvene with his girlfriend whose name sounds like she belongs in the Von Trapp family?" Ethan interrupted, turning to face Rory in her seat.

"I _told_ you, him and Odette are nothing serious," Rory shot back, giving him a warning look. She had been the other woman once in her life with her high school sweetheart, even after things had ended mutually between them. She had no desire for Ethan to suggest she was repeating her old mistake.

"And neither are _you_ , Rory," Ethan retorted, huffing.

Rory sunk in her seat away from her roommate even further. It felt like he'd struck her. Stubborn tears welled up in her eyes and she stood up, shoving her hands in her jacket pocket.

"I don't need your judgment," Rory growled, hugging the flaps of her jacket closed.

"I'm not judging you, I'm telling you what you're not willing to acknowledge," Ethan threw back, crossing his arms.

"Well, thank you for your input on my love life," Rory replied in kind, her voice quivering. "I'm going to go call my mother, in case you want to offer me insight on that when I'm back."

Rory pushed open the doors to the outside world, shoving back Matt and Chris. The two looked at her in alarm, but she didn't care. She barely knew these guys, and she wasn't about to cry in front of them. Rory continued down the block, stopping only once she felt a safe distance away to let the tears that threatened to fall finally push past her eyelashes.

She shot a frustrated glance in the direction of the police station. What right did Ethan have to judge her?

Rory dialed her mother and wiped away her tears, sniffling. All she cared about was updating Luke. She didn't want to think about anything else.

* * *

Jess felt exhausted as he pushed through the door to the lobby. At the mixed reactions he got from the three people in front of him, he assumed that he also looked as hellish as he felt.

"Lucy, you have some explainin' to do," Chris joked without enthusiasm, welcoming Jess in for a quick hug.

"After a few drinks, Ricky," Jess joked back, pulling away. He turned to face Matt, who wore his emotions all over his face. Matt looked upset, disappointed, smug - you name it, Jess saw it there bright as day.

"Don't try out acting," Jess offered, shoving his hands in his pocket as he stared down his friend. Matt just looked at him before Jess threw an arm to pat his friend's shoulder. Matt sighed in defeat, rolled his eyes, and hit Jess back on the shoulder.

"I can't stay mad at that face," Matt cooed, grabbing Jess by the face and squishing his cheeks. Jess glared at him but allowed his friend to manhandle him.

"How're you feeling?" A third person asked him, stepping closer.

Jess raised an eyebrow, pulling away from Matt.

"Oh, Ethan," the guy offered, holding his hand out for Jess to shake once he realized that Jess didn't know him. Jess offered his hand back, shaking it firmly.

"I'm feeling a little like hell, thanks," Jess chuckled, rolling his shoulders back, hoping to stretch out the tension in his muscles. Cop cars were getting smaller and smaller.

"Uh, who are…?"

"Ethan is a friend of Rory's," Chris chimed in, rocking on his heels. "Your super hot cousin that you didn't tell us about."

"Gross, we're barely related," Jess scoffed, twisting his face into one of disgust. Rory was attractive, he would never deny that; her blue eyes and soft smile were hard to get past. He'd always thought that, even in the handful of times he'd interacted with her. But in this case, cognitive dissonance was key: they were related by marriage, not by blood, so basically that meant not at all. It would be too weird to suggest he found his relative appealing.

"I'm just saying, man, you've been holding out," Chris said, shaking his head in mock sadness. Matt punched Chris on the shoulder.

" _That's_ why you looked so butthurt earlier? You were mad Jess hadn't played matchmaker between you and Rory?"

"Wait," Jess said, pointing a finger at Ethan as the wheels turned in his head, finally hearing what his friends were saying. "Rory's friend? Rory came?"

As if speaking her name could bring her into the room, in walked Rory through the double doors again. He watched as she shifted uncomfortably, looking from Ethan to him. Her eyes lit up when she saw him, and she hurried over with a smile.

"Hey," she breathed, shoving her hands awkwardly in her pocket.

"Hey," Jess replied, nodding at her. He was a little more than surprised that she had tagged along. It wasn't like she owed him anything.

"Uh, I've been updating Luke," Rory informed him, taking her phone out of her pocket and waving it a bit. "He wants you to call him."

Jess chuckled, smirking. "Probably to tell me what an ass I'm being."

"I'd say," Matt scoffed from the side, smiling. Jess rolled his eyes before the realization of what had happened earlier hit him.

"Have you heard from Adrian? Is he okay?" Jess asked, looking at the four of them.

Rory met him with a sheepish look. "I didn't really know what happened, only that you were being carried away. I'm sorry."

Jess ran a hand through his hair, feeling the stress from the earlier incident setting in. All he could see was an unconscious Adrian in his mind's eye. Jess turned away from the group, leaning over to knock on the plexiglass to get an officer's attention.

"Hey, can you tell me where Adrian Gianluccio is?" Jess asked, as a female officer walked over to the window. "Was he admitted to a hospital?"

The officer looked like she was going to tell Jess to get lost before an older officer came up behind her, placing a heavy hand on her shoulder. He whispered something to her and shot a meaningful look behind Jess. Jess looked behind him to see the four smiling sheepishly.

"Adrian Gianluccio _was_ admitted to St. Luther's," she said, clearing her throat to get Jess's attention.

Jess nodded, turning to the group. Alright, at least he knew a location.

"Hey, Jess?" Rory asked, touching his shoulder in concern. He looked at her, searching her face.

"I know you're worried about your friend, but I think you should rest," she told him softly, alternating between looking at him in the eye and at her feet. "He'll benefit a lot more if you're well-rested before you go charging in there."

Jess stared at Rory. He wondered how she read his mind just by the look on her face. He didn't want to listen to her, even as he felt the tension from his friends rippling over to him. He knew they were watching, waiting to see what he would do. Jess hated the idea of abandoning people, as had so often been done to him.

He sighed. Rory was probably right. Jess nodded at her, lacing his finger behind his neck in thought.

"Can we go and get something to eat? I smell like jail."

Jess chose to ignore the curious and relieved looks that Matt and Rory gave him, choosing instead to gesture towards the parking lot.

"Don't be dramatic," Matt said dismissively, clearly choosing not to pick the battle of 'you'll listen to her but not me?.' He waved his hand over his head as he lead the pack out of the waiting area. "You've been in jail for like, two hours."

* * *

Rory smiled at the friendly banter between Jess, Matt, and Chris. From what little she knew of him, he'd never quite seemed like the type to have many close relationships. Luke definitely never pegged him as the social type, Rory was certain about that. It was nice that he had an inner circle.

Ethan hung back from the pack and Rory inhaled sharply, hugging her body.

"Hey, I was a little out of line earlier," he began, touching her shoulder. Rory shrugged his hand off, avoiding eye contact with her roommate.

"Yeah, you were. A lot," Rory bit back, speeding up her pace.

"Rory," Ethan warned, grabbing her jacket to stop her. Rory bit her lip, turning around to face him. "I'm sorry. I only want what's best for you, and that means wanting you to be with somebody who I think values how awesome you are."

Rory searched Ethan's face for sincerity and found it plastered all over it. Her face softened and she loosened her arms from around her body. She knew in her heart that Ethan was looking out for her. She just hated how high and mighty he got about things. At times, his bluntness reminded him of her grandmother, something she really hated about him.

"Okay," Rory said quietly, nodding her head to acknowledge his apology. Ethan gave her a half smile and threw his arm around her shoulder, guiding them outside. Jess and the others were a few yards past the entrance, clearly wanting to give the two their space.

Rory leaned into Ethan, still feeling sore from his earlier comments. But she didn't have the energy to fight the apology, so she resolved to try to let it go.

"So tell me," Ethan whispered, leaning in as he went to hold the door for Rory.

"Hm?" She asked, turning her head over her shoulder as she walked past him.

"Emily?" Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow. Rory smiled as the two got closer to the others.

"Paris."

Ethan chuckled, guiding Rory down the sidewalk.

Rory hung her head, leaning into Ethan. Suddenly, she felt very exhausted. Gilmores never turned down food, but she felt far more inclined to curl up on her own couch and order takeout. The reporter in her wanted to stay with Jess and the others to hear about what had happened, but the introvert in her really wanted to retreat.

As she mulled over her thoughts, Rory caught Jess looking at her over his shoulder. She flushed, wondering if she'd been absently staring at her. He turned abruptly, walking backwards to talk to her.

"You look beat," he commented, looking over his shoulder quickly before nodding to Ethan. Ethan hesitated but, seemingly understanding what Jess meant, switched spots with him, picking up a conversation with Matt and Chris to give Rory and Jess privacy.

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on," Rory admitted, smiling softly at him. "It just kind of hit me. I shouldn't be complaining. If anyone should be exhausted, it's you."

"Nah," Jess said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders. "I do this more than you."

"You don't know that," Rory protested lightly. "I'm a journalist, after all. I could do this all the time."

Jess held up his hands in mock surrender, chuckling. "Okay, sorry, didn't know we had a badass over here."

Rory looked over at Jess with tired eyes, offering him a warm smile. So many thoughts swirled around in her head. He met her gaze, and suddenly she felt even heavier. She tore her eyes away, feeling as if he had just peered into her mind.

"You should go," Jess suggested, nudging her with his shoulder. "Get some sleep."

"The news never rests," Rory joked, looking down at her feet before looking back over to Jess. "Besides, aside from just wanting to know what happened, Luke would want me to stay."

Jess scrunched up his mouth, deciding something for himself.

"What if I call you tomorrow, and we can arrange to talk about what happened for your story?" Jess asked softly.

Rory's eyes lit up and she smiled at Jess gratefully. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah. You can ask whatever you want," Jess shrugged. He held up a finger and opened his mouth, but Rory cut him off before he could add anything.

"I know. 'Within reason,'" she said, smiling. Jess returned the smile.

Rory smiled, looking down at her feet again. For barely knowing each other, Jess had been nothing but kind to her. She would even venture to say that a lot of his mannerisms reminded her of Luke.

"Hey, Ethan?" Jess called ahead of him, breaking Rory out of her thoughts. Ethan turned around, stopping in his tracks. "Can you take Rory home? She looks like she's gonna keel over."

Ethan looked at Rory and she nodded, suppressing a yawn. Rory shot Jess a thankful look.

"Tomorrow?" She asked, looking at Jess expectantly.

"Tomorrow," Jess confirmed.

"Let's go," Ethan said lightly with a nod, offering his arm for Rory to grab ahold of. She did as suggested and the five exchanged goodbyes and pleasantries as the two headed back towards Ethan's car, parked on the opposite side of the parking lot.

Rory looked over her shoulder at Jess as Ethan escorted her onwards. Jess quickly turned to look at her and smiled before returning to his conversation with Matt and Chris.

* * *

"So, are you going to meet up with Logan?" Ethan asked cautiously, taking Rory's coat from around her shoulders. He held out Rory's phone to her after taking it out of the jacket pocket.

"Oh gosh," Rory breathed, throwing a hand over her mouth. "I forgot about him."

"He'll understand," Ethan cooed, rubbing his roommate's shoulder. "You really should get some sleep."

"Mhm," Rory mumbled, rolling her eyes at Ethan. She couldn't tell what he was more concerned about - her not seeing Logan or her actually catching some shut-eye. Rory took her phone and put it in her jeans pocket as Ethan hung up their jackets.

"Besides, the quicker you go to bed, the quicker you can have fun dreams about rescuing Jess from a jail cell - handcuffs, suits…." Ethan said sweetly, ducking as Rory chucked her shoe at him.

"Gross, Ethan!" She flared, heat rising to her cheeks. "Why do you insist on making this something dirty?"

"The way you guys were gazing at each other? Please. You're not making it dirty enough," Ethan said nonchalantly, giving Rory a skeptical look.

"We weren't gazing at each other in any special way," Rory insisted, shaking her head. "I hadn't seen him in years before today."

"Years of sexual tension built up," Ethan teased, pointing a finger at Rory.

Rory spun on her heel, stalking off to her room so that he wouldn't see her blush in embarrassment. Yes, she had found Jess attractive when she was younger, but Ethan was really being too much.

Ethan laughed and Rory slammed the door behind her as she walked into her room. She unwrapped her scarf from her neck and threw it on the floor, letting herself fall onto her bed with a loud sigh. She took her phone out of her pocket and shoved it under her pillow.

Rory rolled over and curled into her comforter, hugging it to her body. It felt heavenly.

Rory's phone buzzed and she groaned, not wanting to check. She'd already checked in with Luke and her mom on the drive home; who else could need her now?

Rory reached under her pillow and, with one eye still closed, squinted to see who was messaging her.

A number she didn't recognize popped up on her screen.

' _Thanks for coming today. You didn't have to. I'll call Luke tomorrow. - Jess'_

Rory raised an eyebrow but smiled. Jess probably got her number from Matt. It was sort of sweet that he went through the trouble to text her.

' _Don't even mention it,'_ Rory typed, pausing to think of what else to say. _'9am tomorrow?'_

She watched as the little dots danced on her screen, indicating that Jess was typing.

' _Sounds good. Text me your address and I'll come get you.'_

Rory smiled, texted Jess her address, and fell into a much needed slumber as soon as she pressed 'send.'

* * *

 **AN: I promise the next chapter won't take two months :) Not a lot of Jess, but I'll make up for it next round!**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN** : _I don't quite know if this is what ya'll were waiting 1.5 years for, but it's here. This chapter started in March 2017 and just has been a slow, hard process. There's so much changing in the U.S. government every day that capturing the 2016 Election rally energy is... not difficult, but challenging in some ways because that energy has shifted so much (I'm a community organizer myself). So I hope I can continue to do the story justice as things move on. Thanks for sticking around. It's dialogue heavy to build a foundation for Rory/Jess. Please review. :) xx_

* * *

"Stop judging me," Rory commented dryly, turning in the mirror, straightening her back to see what her sweater did for her figure.

"I haven't said anything about your obsessive outfit changing," Ethan said casually, sipping his coffee and sifting through some papers on the floor of Rory's bedroom.

"I can hear you thinking about it," Rory said with a pout, taking her sweater off, tossing it on the bed, and heading back to her closet.

Ethan simply shrugged, a smile playing at his lips, and crossed out a paragraph on the paper he'd been reading.

He listened to Rory grunt a bit more in her closet before Ethan sighed and put down his pen.

"Wear the green oversized sweater," he offered, leaning back on his elbows. "The light one, not the awful one that Emily cursed us with."

"Hey, it made a great scratching post for Archie," Rory countered lightheartedly, smiling.

"Until it killed him," Ethan reminded her, raising an eyebrow.

"Ohyeah _,"_ Rory mumbled, frowning. Poor cat. Something in the material was poisonous to felines and all it took was a few cleanings of his paws before it did him in. She turned back into the closet to find the sweater in question.

"Gilmores shouldn't have pets," she added absently.

"Yeah, no kidding," Ethan deadpanned, sighing. He'd really liked Archie.

"This sweater?" Rory held it up uncertainly, biting her lip. "It's not that flattering."

"You have great shoulders," Ethan disagreed. "Show them off to make up for your lack of chest."

"Rude!" Rory pouted, furrowing her eyebrows. She didn't need to be reminded of her modest chest. And truthfully, she knew she was more blessed in other strategic areas of her body, so it didn't bother her much anyways.

"Additionally, I know what looks good on you," Ethan supplied, shrugging awkwardly on the floor. "Besides, it's light enough that it won't sautée you if wherever you're going is warm."

Rory considered this for a moment. Ethan had never been wrong about fashion choices before. He was probably right, too; this was around that time where places pumped the heat. You never really knew whether you should dress light in preparation or like Joey that time he wore every article of Chandler's clothing.

Rory smiled and nodded, grabbing the clothes and heading toward the Japanese-style changing screen she had in the corner of her room. Ethan reached back out to his mug and frowned: empty. He got up and headed to the kitchen to refill his coffee cup and to grab a mug for Rory.

"So, this is just coffee right?" He called out, pressing the Keurig. It whirred to life and he found her coffee of choice, inserting it into the machine.

"I mean, we are _getting_ coffee, so I think that would constitute just coffee."

"So why does it matter what you look like?"

Rory hesitated for a moment, tugging on her jeans.

"Because I'm a journalist, and this is still business. I can't look like a frump."

"No, we wouldn't want to look bad for our attractive kind-of-relative," Ethan said with a smirk, handing Rory her mug as she entered the kitchen area, twirling around for him to inspect her.

Rory frowned and pursed her lips.

"Oh, don't pull an Emily on me," Ethan protested, shaking his head and handing her the mug. "I'm teasing. You look good."

A sharp _ding_ interrupted them. Rory and Ethan exchanged a look of confusion before it dawned on the former that the sound was her phone. Rory jogged back to her room, coffee carefully balanced in her palms, and looked at her device, left haphazardly on her bed. There was a text message.

'Outside when you're ready.'

Something inside of Rory's stomach stirred. It felt akin to butterflies, which she didn't attribute to Jess, but rather the feeling one gets when an exciting story is coming together. She grabbed her phone, typing a quick reply, before she shoved it into her back pocket.

"So he's here," Rory informed Ethan as she swung her messenger bag over her shoulder, grabbing a light jacket off the coat rack. She paused for a moment before deciding against the jacket, hooking it back onto the rack.

"Mhm," Ethan hummed knowingly, wiggling his eyebrows at Rory as he sipped his own cup of coffee.

" _Bye_ , Ethan," Rory frowned, offering him a glare. Rory patted her pocket, looking back at the coat rack.

"I'll be home for a while," Ethan offered, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about your keys."

Rory offered him a grateful smile before tearing out of the apartment.

Rory pushed open the door to her apartment and looked around. She had never quite asked Jess what kind of car he owned. Suddenly she saw him off to the side, leaning against the hood of a black vehicle. Jess was engrossed in a thin book. Rory paused a moment to watch him, letting herself absently scan over his features. His dark bangs curled lightly against his face, and his slim but muscular frame was accentuated in the black thermal shirt he wore. Rory's stomach flip flopped and she shook her head, actively walking toward him.

Jess looked up then, the movement catching his eye, and his lips twitched slightly upward. He scribbled something onto the page he was reading before tucking it away. He raised an eyebrow as Rory approached him, mouth slightly agape.

Rory's eyes were wide in intrigue and offense. _He writes in books? He_ writes _in_ books _!_

"You okay?" Jess asked cautiously, pushing himself lightly off the hood of his car. Rory was gripping the edges of the strap of her messenger back tightly, her eyes wider than he thought they needed to be.

"Nothing, it's just… it's nothing," Rory mumbled, moving past him toward the passenger side door. Jess stared after Rory a moment, watching her get into the car as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and he furrowed his eyebrows. Something was off about her, but it wasn't his place to really comment. He shook his head before walking to his door and sliding into the car.

Rory fidgeted in the seat next to him. While it didn't go unnoticed, Jess focused his attention on the road as he pulled away from her complex and headed to a coffee shop he really liked. For a girl who couldn't seem to stop talking, she was awfully quiet.

After a solid thirty seconds in silence, Jess couldn't take it anymore. He settled back in his seat, making a left turn, and looked at Rory from the corner of his eye to find her staring at him.

"Care to share with the class?" He asked noncommittally, raising an eyebrow.

"I can't believe you!" Rory bursted suddenly, pivoting in her seat to face him. Jess startled a little at her outburst but turned his eyes back to the road. This was familiar territory: women blaming him for something he didn't know he did. Figured.

"Okay…" Jess trailed off, waiting for her to continue. He didn't have to wait long.

"How can you deface literature?" Rory continued aghast.

Jess was taken aback. " _Deface_ literature? When the hell—-"

"Back when you were leaning on your car," Rory informed him, waving a hand emphatically in the air. At this, Jess rolled his eyes, reached in his back pocket with a free hand ("What are you doing?"), and tossed the book at Rory. She caught it awkwardly in her lap, looking down at the title.

Rory scrunched her nose, holding it up with its cover facing Jess.

" _In Our Time_?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Jess returned her raised eyebrow and Rory shrugged, setting the book back in her lap.

"I was wrong," Rory said flippantly. "You weren't defacing literature."

"No?" Jess smirked, making a right turn.

"No, you were defacing garbage. I revoke my outburst," Rory replied sweetly, handing the book back toward Jess.

" _Garbage_? Are you cracked?" Jess nearly choked, looking at Rory incredulously.

"Hemingway is arguably the most boring writer that exists."

"You _are_ cracked. Hemingway was one of the greatest writers of his time and, _arguably_ ," he emphasized, mimicking Rory, "of _this_ time."

"How can you say that? I can think of a hundred other writers more influential than Hemingway."

"Like _who_?" Jess looked at Rory doubtfully. He wasn't sure he trusted her judgment on books. "Judy Blume?"

Rory seethed in her seat, shooting daggers at Jess. The nerve of him.

"First of all, Radical Randy, that was sexist ("Fine, sorry"). Second of all, Ayn Rand comes to mind."

Jess laughed, shaking his head.

"What kind of run down library did you crawl out of?" Jess mocked.

"One that's banned the insufferable works of Hemingway."

"You know, for a journalist, you don't know much about writing," Jess pointed out sarcastically, shaking his head as they pulled up to Orbit's Coffee House.

" _Excuse_ you," Rory scoffed, crossing her arms. "Ayn Rand was a master of monologues. Hemingway was a master of run-on sentences and emotionless text."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," Jess gawked, turning the ignition off and opening the door. Rory followed suit. "You wouldn't know emotional writing if it bit you in the face."

"Ayn Rand. Jane Austen. Voltaire. Sylvia Plath. _These_ writers knew emotion.

"I don't disagree that they're good, but they're not better than Hemingway," Jess disagreed, stuffing his keys back into his pocket.

"Hemingway had a permanent chip on his shoulder. Everything he wrote sounds like a bitter old man devoid of feelings scribbling his thoughts down on a dirty napkin," Rory defended, moving around the hood to walk with him.

"Is bitterness not an emotion?" Jess teased, smirking at Rory.

Rory rolled her eyes and adjusted the bag on her shoulder, ignoring the mild flip-flopping her stomach did when Jess looked her way.

"You're missing the point."

Jess rolled his eyes but smiled to himself. Rory was misguided, but she had passion. He could sway people like her.

The two were almost at the door of the cafe when Jess spoke again.

"I don't know if I want to give you my story anymore," Jess said calmly. "I don't think your literary taste can be trusted, and that probably speaks volumes about your writing."

Jess turned around and headed back to his car, a smirk playing secretively on his lips.

Rory stopped mid-stride, staring at him in horror. Was he being serious? Rory stared at the back of his head. On one hand, how dare he? On the other hand, her story was getting away. That wasn't an option. She was a journalist, for crying out loud. If she could handle protests, and what's more, gross Foster's advances, she could handle anything. She could handle Jess.

"It would be great for business," Rory called out.

"Yours or mine?" Jess retorted over his shoulder. Rory furrowed her eyebrows.

"Jess," Rory protested, crossing her arms over her chest. Jess looked back at her noncommittally. It seemed to Rory that more drastic measures were needed.

Rory heaved a big sigh and hung her head, slowly making her way to him. When she reached him, she reached out a hand to his arm, leaving a feather light touch against his skin. Something akin to what Rory could only imagine a current of electricity to feel like zapped through her at the contact, but she ignored it. She heard Jess catch his breath and then, with all the Gilmore pout she could muster, she let Jess have it.

" _Please_?" She whined, dragging out her Es and puckering her lips. Jess stared for a moment, unsure what to do with himself or her. He'd meant this to be playful - really, to egg her on - but he didn't think she'd _whine_. He hate whining. And pouting.

At the look he gave her, Rory giggled to herself internally; it reminded her of Luke.

"You're joking, right?" He clarified, looking at her with mock disdain.

Rory couldn't help but notice that, despite the bags under his eyes from the previous night's exhaustion, Jess had a nice face. His brown orbs stared into hers and, if this wasn't strictly a business meeting _and nothing more_ like Ethan had suggested, Rory might have gotten lost in them. But she _was_ on a business meeting, she reminded herself.

"'Fraidnot," she quipped, sticking her lips out further. "Pretty please?"

Jess looked at Rory skeptically. Of all the tactics he'd expected her to employ to get him to turn around - and really, he was never going to _leave_ , he'd just wanted her to admit Hemingway was an artist - he hadn't expected pouting like a five year old. Somehow Jess found it endearing, though he wouldn't say that out loud.

He rolled his eyes, uninterested in communicating his amusement. He gently pushed past her, as if he was doing her some great favor. (In theory, he was, but the publicity _would_ be great for the movement. Any press to some degree was good press, and he knew Rory was on their side.)

Rory smiled victoriously and tailed Jess closely back into the coffee shop, ready to block another escape attempt.

* * *

"What?" Rory asked, blushing once she realized Jess was staring at her. Was something on her face? She self consciously ran her finger across the top and bottom of her lips, searching for stray croissant crumbs.

"I've just never seen somebody eat like you," Jess said incredulously, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Or drink coffee. It's been fifteen minutes and you've had, what? A croissant, a muffin, and two small black coffees?"

Rory felt the heat rise up her chest and looked down shyly. It wasn't that this was the first time she'd heard this from somebody, much less a guy. But something about being under the scrutiny of this kind of stranger-kind of friend (Rory and The Butterflies In Her Stomach® refused to acknowledge him as her cousin) made her feel extra transparent.

"It's cute," Jess backtracked, once he saw that Rory was uncomfortable. She looked up at him quickly from underneath her long lashes, giving him a look that he couldn't quite read.

" _Any_ way," Rory diffused, tucking her hair behind her ear (Jess smiled openly at her awkwardness, which Rory chose to ignore) and looking down at her notepad.

"Back to where you pry into my personal life," Jess offered playfully, sipping his own iced coffee.

"I don't see how you like iced coffee," Rory commented, scrunching up her nose.

"You have a lot of criticisms about the things I enjoy," Jess pointed out indifferently, his tone light. Rory rolled her eyes and clicked her recorder, which she'd paused when her second coffee was brought out, back to life.

"So, Mr. Mariano, aside from bad taste in literature and beverages, tell us more about you," Rory stated, gently pushing the recorder closer to Jess. She smiled sweetly as he glared at her and propped up her notebook, ready to jot down his movements and intimations.

"I like green," he said casually, changing the subject. He hated this part about interviews; he hated talking about Liz and his childhood. Rory stared at him confused before looking down at herself. A pink blush crept onto her cheeks and she adjusted her sweater. He smirked, feeling proud of himself.

"I like people who stay on topic," Rory informed him, clearing her throat. Jess was clearly being avoidant, and she wasn't going to let him get away from her questions by complimenting her. (Although, somewhere in the back of her mind, she made a mental note to thank Ethan later.)

"I'm a private person," Jess deflected, sitting back in his chair.

"Open the curtains a little for us," Rory encouraged flatly, mirroring his actions.

"I do better with directions, Teach," he deadpanned, not missing a beat. He clenched his jaw, suddenly feeling a migraine coming on. He rubbed the spot softly.

"Fine. Are you close to family?"

"Geographically or relationally? What? I'm just clarifying," Jess asked upon Rory giving him a withering look.

"Both."

"Nope, and nope."

"Do you have siblings?"

"I have a half sibling."

"Are you close?"

"We're best friends," Jess said in a tone that let Rory know he was being flippant.

"Jess, you're not taking this seriously," Rory sighed in frustration, pausing the recorder again.

"I'm answering your questions," Jess disagreed, gesturing at the recorder.

"Not very well. If you didn't want to do an interview, you could have just said so," Rory huffed, closing her notebook and stuffing it into her messenger bag. She would write the story without him; there was enough she could find out on her own by using her resources. There was no hiding from Emily Gilmore.

As she began to blow past him, Rory felt a tug on her sleeve.

"Stay," she heard from behind her. She whipped around to see Jess looking at her apologetically, slightly risen out of his chair. Rory searched his eyes but found no hidden agenda in them and she nodded, returning to her seat.

Jess sighed lightly to himself in relief.

"And you'll be good?" She asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyebrows.

"Scout's honor," Jess promised, saluting her with two fingers to his temple.

Rory stared at him before reaching into her back and hitting the recorder as she placed it back on the table.

"Were you ever a scout?"

Jess chuckled, shaking his head. If nothing else, Rory had spunk. He could get behind somebody who relentlessly pursued what they wanted. It was how he'd naturally fallen into organizing work.

"You know, you wouldn't be a bad organizer," he suggested, deciding to communicate his inner monologue.

"I'll stick to the press," Rory said with a smile, pulling her notebook back out. _I can't organize my closet, let alone a crowd of people_ , she thought to herself absently, looking down at her notes.

Jess watched Rory, taking in her features in the rare moment of silence. Something about the naïveté she exuded made him want to shield her from his past. He was making a lot of assumptions based on what he knew of her - which wasn't much; he knew what Luke mentioned off the cuff - but he didn't think she'd be able to relate. And there was nothing he hated more than being pitied.

"I don't want to talk about my family," Jess admitted; when Rory looked up, he looked so serious that she sat back in her chair a little. There was an intensity in his eyes that she didn't want to dip into; something told her that if she wanted access to Jess's childhood, it would come by surprise.

"Okay," Rory nodded, drawing a quick stick figure with a question mark. (Would she remember that was about Jess's family? Rory shrugged to herself and mulled over her next question.)

"Did you grow up in Philadelphia?"

"No, the Village."

"As in New York?"

"That's the one. I spent a lot of time in Washington Square Park."

"Doing what? Causing trouble?"

Jess laughed as Rory wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Hardly. I read. I wasn't fond of being home. It was either be angry or be productive; I hadn't learned you could do both just yet."

Rory locked eyes with him then and tried to imagine a younger Jess, nose in a book at a park, avoiding whatever was behind the front door of his apartment. It wasn't impossible; he seemed to shrink before her eyes, a brooding teenager in a leather jacket. The last time she'd seen him a few years back helped her form the image in her mind. She didn't know whether to smile or frown.

"What was it like growing up in New York?"

"Like living on a pulse," Jess said, waving his hand lazily. Rory smiled as Jess became animated before her eyes.

"How so?" she asked, leaning into the conversation. This was prime background information without forcing him to disclose personal things.

"Things are always in motion. Even in the resting phases, there's still life happening."

Rory stared at Jess, enough so that he questioned her.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just - that's a really beautiful way to describe your city. I get exactly what you're trying to say without the verbiage a lot of people throw in," Rory offered excitedly, smiling widely.

"So do you mind if we actually transition?" Rory asked suddenly, wanting to build on the momentum of his excitement. "You seemed to have quite a way with words on the stage. Can you talk to me more about how you went from park benches in the City to organizing in Philly?"

* * *

"I'm starving," Rory complained, looking at her watch. They were nearing hour five of their conversation, which meant a first and second lunch should have been digested in her stomach by now. Their interview had concluded over an hour ago, but they'd spent the time discussing the music playing at the cafe. Rory's stomach growled with emphasis and she smiled sheepishly as Jess smirked.

"Did you want to grab something to eat elsewhere?" He asked, looking over his shoulder at the empty pastry display. The barista looked tired. "You seemed to have cleared out this place."

"Their pastries are small!" Rory resisted, gathering her items. "It's not my fault they take an inch of dough and call it a muffin."

Jess rolled his eyes, but he was smiling to himself. Rory wasn't what he expected. She had an intensity about her that drew him in, while at the same time maintaining a childlike lightness. Her questions felt meaningful, and not at all invasive. She wasn't the only person asking for an interview; he'd gone home to see a barrage of requests in his email and phone inbox. But something about the way she hadn't rested until he was okay made him want to give her _his_ story. It wasn't just a deadline; she'd actually been worried. And whether that was because of his affiliation with Luke, he couldn't say, but he appreciated it all

the same. He'd passed on the others to Adrian and Kelly, who begrudgingly obliged, not being fans of words or the press in the ways he was so well versed in.

"Actually, Jess," Rory stopped him at the door of the cafe. He raised his eyebrow, pausing mid-push of the door.

"I've taken up a lot of your time already today," Rory said shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear again. "Are you sure you have the time to eat with me? I'm sure you've got a lot of other people itching to talk to you."

It wasn't so much that Rory cared about the other papers; after all, no _real_ journalist wanted the competition to have access to their lead. But something about the way the day had turned out had filled Rory with joy, which for her naturally led to guilt. She didn't want Jess to spend more time with her out of obligation; the last thing she needed was to seem like she had no life of her own to attend to.

Jess seemed to read between the lines and shook his head, gesturing for her to pass him to his car.

"You're my only journalist," he informed her nonchalantly, swinging his keys around his pointer finger. "Besides, I didn't eat an entire bakery's worth of food ("I maintain my earlier statement!" "Fine, fine"). I could eat."

Rory smiled down at her shoes and walked to the passenger side, sliding into the seat as Jess unlocked her door.

"Where to, then?" He asked, stirring the car to life. He patted the dashboard lovingly as his vehicle sighed from the weight. Poor Berta; she was getting old.

"Do you mind if we go somewhere near my place?" Rory asked, holding back a giggle at the affection Jess had for his car.

"Nope."

* * *

"We need to eat less," Ethan grumbled, waddling down the stairs with the heavy bag of garbage that he and Rory had created.

He looked at his watch for the tenth time in the last few hours, wondering where his roommate was. It was nearing five o'clock, and he wasn't worried, but he _was_ curious. He'd hoped she wouldn't be home early, having loads to tell him later on; he couldn't remember the last time she'd been on a date. _"I need a break from men_ " had been what Rory told him every time he pushed her to go talk to a guy.

It wasn't that she _needed_ somebody; nobody did, after all, as far as he was concerned. But Rory did need to get back out there. Her breakup with Logan had left much to be desired, and he hated the prick. He was good for nothing but pushing Rory down an emotional hill of sharp rocks, never sticking around long enough to help dress her wounds. Ethan didn't know if Jess was this "getting back out there" bit, but he wasn't Logan. And that was something.

Speaking of Logan. He couldn't believe that asshat had the nerve to call their house phone. He was pretty damn sure he'd blocked his number. Ethan didn't know whether he should be a good person and delete it or be a responsible person and tell Rory. He sighed.

As he reached the front door of the building he stopped, hearing a familiar voice laughing. He looked through the window to see Rory discussing something animatedly with Jess, who leaned against the hood of his car with a good natured smile on his face. Ethan smiled and opted to take the garbage back upstairs so as not to disturb their conversation.

He'd decide on the Logan thing later.

* * *

"Dude, where the hell have you been?" Matt exclaimed, crossing his arms with a huff as Jess tossed his keys onto his desk. Jess might have glared, but he was in a damn good mood.

"Out?" He suggested, picking up a towel sitting on top of his hamper and sniffing it. Feeling like he could trust it, he tossed it over his shoulder, kicking his shoes off as he trying to pass Matt.

"No way," Matt protested, locking his arm against the door frame. "You don't have a horrible fucking night and then be gone all day without a word. You don't answer texts, or calls. For all we know, the cops grabbed you again on some

bogus charge. Where were you?"

Jess tensed his muscles, feeling a quick swirl of anger flooding his stomach. He tried to quell it, reminding himself that he wasn't seventeen anymore.

"You need to relax. I know you care, but I'm an adult, and I can make my own decisions. Besides," he said casually, patting Matt's shoulder and pushing past his arm, "if I'd been arrested again, you'd have gotten another frantic call from Rory."

"So you were on a date," Chris deadpanned, coming up the stairs to see what the commotion was. Jess rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't on a date. But since the two of you are _so invested_ , I was on an interview today. Rory works for the _Inquirer_."

Jess continued walking to the shower. He could almost hear the wheels turning in the guys' heads, determining how to proceed with the conversation. Jess ground his teeth as the migraine that had been bothering him all day pecked at his temple.

"Jess," Chris said softly. Jess sighed and stopped in his tracks. He hated when Chris used the soft voice on him. He leaned against the wall, waiting for the voice behind him to say whatever it was he needed to say.

"Look, man. I know you're Mr. Independent, and I know we aren't generally supportive of the organizing work you're doing at the rate you're doing it," he continued, coming up beside Jess. Jess looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"But you can't get upset that you have people who love you and care about you," Matt added, joining Chris. "You just got beaten by cops - again - and arrested - _again_ \- and then disappear and don't say anything."

"We're not asking you to send us check-ins and texts with memes ("What self-respecting adult sends memes in text messages?" "Hey, asshole, I resent that!"). But we are asking you to consider that while this is physically traumatic to you, it's emotionally and mentally traumatic to us. And a small heads up the day after your incident wouldn't hurt," Chris finished, resting a hand on Jess's shoulder before turning around to leave. Jess heard Matt sigh and retreat as well. His headache throbbed.

That struck a nerve with Jess. For the guy who was so hellbent on carving space for everyone, Jess certainly hadn't taken into consideration the air he was pulling from his friends and colleagues. And he sure didn't think about how Chris would feel with the constant police interaction.

"Hey, Chris. Matt," Jess called, turning to face them. "I'm sorry."

The two did their best to hide their bewildered expressions. Chris recovered faster and he nodded, before pushing Matt gently to head down the stairs.

"But he apologized, did you _hear_ that?" Matt scream-whispered, letting his friend manhandle him down the stairs.

Jess smirked and turned back around, walking into the bathroom and turning the shower knob to the left. He really needed a hot shower. Chris's words circled around his head, as did a pair of blue eyes. Jess bounced back and forth between the two, trying to identify his feelings one way or another, but found it difficult with the headache. He resolved to push the blue eyes away and revisit that another time, certain that it would bring him nothing but trouble.

* * *

Rory crunched on another Cheeto, scrolling up on her laptop. She focused in on a sentence and left her finger on it, using her other hand to trace connecting information from her notepad. Another Cheeto, more scrolling.

"I've never seen you so focused," Ethan joked, leaning against the doorjamb.

Rory looked over at him and smiled before returning back to her work. Ethan smiled and walked into her room, plopping down next to her awkwardly as he juggled two mugs of hot chocolate.

"Oh, that smells heavenly," Rory purred, turning eagerly to take the mug from her roommate. She peered in suspiciously ("Yes, there are marshmallows") before smiling and sipping from the drink.

Rory grimaced.

"Chocolate and cheese don't mix?" Ethan asked, nodding toward her half-eaten bag of Cheetos.

"Not particularly," she acknowledged, pushing the snacks away from her.

"How's the article coming?" Ethan pried, resting his head on her shoulder to look at her Google Docs.

"Well, I think," Rory admitted, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.

"Is that why you're staring at it like it'll jump off the page and run away?" He teased, sipping his drink carefully so he wouldn't spill any. "You haven't made a noise in hours."

"It's just important to get it right," Rory explained, hugging her mug to her chest. "It has to be great This is the first major protest I've been allowed to cover. Foster always gets these stories; Yvette took a chance on me, and I don't want to let her down."

Ethan nodded, a smirk playing at his lips. There was a pregnant pause and he waited, wondering if Rory would birth her inner thoughts. She didn't.

"And it's important for an organizer to have his story told well," Ethan prompted, hoping she'd take the bait. Rory looked at him from the side of her eye.

"Well, yeah," she nodded, staring at Jess's name in black, Times New Roman on her screen. "That's important to me, too. I want Jess's cause to come through well. He really has a way with words, you know? And I don't want to misconstrue any of that."

Ethan said nothing, drinking his hot chocolate to hide his smile. He pushed himself up, dusting off his pajama pants.

"I do vacuum, you know," Rory glared.

"Once a week?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. She stuck her tongue out at him and returned to her screen, absently picking at a marshmallow with her finger.

"You'll do great," he reminded her, smiling. Rory returned his smile, thankful to have a live-in cheerleader by her side. It wasn't the first time Ethan had encouraged her in her work; he was the reason she'd gotten over her self-doubt and applied to the _Inquirer_ instead of a smaller press.

"Thanks, friend."

"Oh, and Rory?"

Rory looked up to find Ethan leaning back in her doorway, looking conflicted.

"Yeah?"

"There's a message for you on the answering machine."

"Mom called the house phone? What's wrong with her?" Rory laughed, going to grab her phone to return the call.

"No, not Lorelai."

Rory paused, looking back at Ethan, her eyes a question.

"Logan."

Rory deflated, feeling a knot form in her stomach. She'd forgotten about him. She'd gotten swept up the last few days chasing a story. And a pair of brown eyes, her mind offered her. Rory shook her head, but the thought crept back in. Jess certainly looked at her more warmly than Logan's steely blue eyes ever had.

After a pregnant pause, Ethan spoke up.

"Rory?"

"Delete it," she said suddenly, surprising herself. Too afraid to look at Ethan and change her mind, she went back to typing, never letting her eyes leave the screen.

Ethan nodded, holding back his surprise, and turned around. He waited until he was a few feet down the hallway before skipping to the answering machine, erasing the smug sound of Logan's voice off their machine for what he hoped was the last time.


End file.
